International Diplomacy

Kerry Visits Pakistan; Cooperation Likely to Increase

2011-05-24T06:27:00.000-07:00

The visit by the senator John Kerry has high lightened the fact that indeed Pak-US relationship can be indeed described as a marriage of convenience. US needs Pakistan as much as Pakistan needs US. The details of the meeting between Senator John Kerry and Pakistan's security and civilian establishment leaders revealed that both the allies would cooperate on taking out high value targets in future.
It can definitely be considered a positive sign of development in the complex relationship between the two countries. Pakistan is indeed strategically important country for US as more than 70 percent of the supplies for coalition troops in Afghanistan pass through Pakistan, population wise it is the second biggest Muslim country ,after Indonesia, and possesses dozens of nuclear weapons. A new government in Islamabad which would be working against the US interests in that region would be the last thing which Obama administration would want, and the chances of this scenario to become a reality can increase if the economic and military aid to Pakistan is stopped , an option currently being considered by some US lawmakers.
Pakistan has suffered considerable losses in this war on terror and its civilian government along with the military is indeed poised to take on the extremist elements, in the tribal areas, which are a threat to peace and security of the whole region. Hopefully once suitable conditions are in place Pakistan Army would be taking on the militants in North Waziristan tribal agency just the way they had did in their successful military operations in Swat, Bajaur and South Waziristan.

Aftermath of OBL's killing;Shedding Light on Pakistani and the American Narratives

2011-05-15T01:37:00.000-07:00

While the world celebrates the death of the most wanted terror mastermind, in a US Navy Seal Operation in Abbotabad, the government and security establishment in Islamabad is worried about other things. Pakistan has slammed US for violating its sovereignty as a result of the unilateral American Navy Seal operation on its territory. Many in Pakistan believe US could have at least carried out a joint operation, with the Pakistani forces, to take out OBL in his hideout in the Pakistani city of Abbotabad.
Here the mistrust between the two allies comes into play. Analysts and Law makers in US are demanding that Pakistan should explain that how was it possible for OBL to remain in a hideout which was in close proximity to Kakul Military Academy without letting any one in the Pakistani security establishment know about his presence, thus many fingers are being pointed at Pakistan right now. However as reflected in the speech of Prime Minister Gillani, ISI (Pakistan's powerful intelligence agency) has broken all relations with the CIA. Rumor is spreading amongst the Pakistani public that if the Americans can literally sneak into their territory and carry out this operation without any hindrance they might also be able to take on the Pakistani nukes. Since the Rymond Davis episode the relations between the ISI and CIA have gradually deteriorated to such a level of mistrust that in a recent interview the CIA chief Leon E Panettaa claimed that he feared that letting the Pakistani government know about the presence of OBL in Abbotabad would increase the chances of the news being leaked to OBL himself.
As the stake holders of the region try to protect their interests in Afghanistan, Pakistani government, the opposition and the security establishment should come up with their own unanimous narrative so that the relationship with US can be properly defined.
Meanwhile the US needs to consider that Pakistan as an ally has suffered 3000 military casualties in this war on terror (more than the coalition casualties in Afghanistan), it has suffered around 30,000 civilian deaths in the last decade ,has helped directly or indirectly in capturing around 600 most wanted terror suspects and most important of all Pakistan shared intelligence ,with US, about Bin Laden's courier in early 2009 which ultimately led to this US Navy Seal operation . Without this support US would have never achieved what it achieved till now in War On Terror.

Pakistani Man Charged Over Shipments to Pakistan's Nuclear Program

2011-03-09T23:41:00.000-08:00

According to WSJ ( Wall Street Journal )
"A grand-jury indictment in Baltimore accuses Nadeem Akhtar, 45 years old, who operated an export firm in Maryland, of obtaining the items from U.S. companies and illegally exporting them to agencies that are on a U.S. Commerce Department blacklist."

"Prosecutors said the materials include radiation-detection devices, calibration equipment and nuclear-grade resins that can be used "directly or indirectly in activities related to nuclear reactors and the processing and production of nuclear-related materials."

"The Pakistani agencies receiving the equipment include the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission and the Chasma Nuclear Power Plant, the U.S. alleged. Both are banned from receiving certain items from the U.S. for national-security reasons."

The most ironical aspect of this news is that although President George W Bush had granted Pakistan the status of a major non-Nato ally and despite the fact that thousands of Pakistani civilians and Pakistani soldiers have lost their lives in the last ten years of war on terror yet the sanctions on civilian institutions (as mentioned by WSJ including Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission and Chashma Nuclear Power Plant) which have nothing to do with military establishment remain in place.

It is clear that SUPARCO and Chashma Nuclear Power Plants are solely being used for civilian purposes (with the former being an organization focusing on space research and latter one focusing on generating electricity to fulfill the growing demand of Pakistan's developing economy). US and its allies in the west need to treat Pakistan (their most important partner in war on terror) at par with its neighbors and make sure that a balance of power is maintained in that part of the world which would further ensure peace and security in that region.