A routine visit

The News, Sun, May,23, 2004.

Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema



The visiting US Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca had detailed discussions with both President Musharraf as well as with the Prime Minister Jamali. In addition she also held talks with the Foreign Minister Kasuri. It is not too difficult to ascertain the main focal points of discussions. Three issues must have consumed most of the discussion time. For obvious reasons India-Pakistan composite dialogue, Pakistan-US relations and developments in Iraq must have been included. Reports indicate that these issues were discussed comprehensively.

Despite the repeated emergence of strong critical voices demonizing aspects of American policies in various parts of the world, the American role in facilitating or perhaps nudging India-Pakistan to initiate a dialogue cannot be altogether ignored. Demonisation of American behavior in Iraq and especially in the light of Abu Gharaib abuse revelations appears attractive and justifiable. But one thing is certain that the American interest to have the ongoing Kashmir dispute resolved to the satisfaction of all the involved parties have remained somewhat consistent especially over the last couple of years. The Americans have once again reaffirmed their pledge to continue playing the role of a facilitator between Pakistan and India.

It could be easily argued that America’s sustained interest in the region and especially in the resolution of Kashmir dispute is product of its own policy pursuits. Confronted with the dilemma of continuous balancing of its relationships with both India and Pakistan such routine trips by American officials are almost essential part of the overall area strategy. A high profile visit can sometimes produce unnecessary headaches if one is not careful. Even if you are extremely careful the sensitivities of the people involved may produce a totally unexpected development.

After all it is difficult to forget how the Indians reacted to Colin Powell’s offer making Pakistan a major non-NATO ally. Since Mr. Powell was in India before coming to Pakistan, many prominent and thinking Indians criticized the American official rather severely for not informing them during his visit to India. In fact some Indians went to the extent of dubbing the Americans as an unreliable ally.  This, indeed, was not something new for the American ears as they have been frequently accused of similar charges in the past.

It seems that the Pakistani officials once again reiterated their determination to resolve all Indo-Pak issues and disputes. Over the years not only Pakistan has consistently and repeatedly urged India to settle all issues but has also made concerted efforts to make the Indians realize the significance of resolving the Kashmir dispute first. To begin with if must be realized that the Kashmir dispute has the capability to impede progress in all   areas if no progress is made on the Kashmir dispute. Besides, if focused talks on Kashmir result into an amicable resolution, it also implies the resolution of Siachin and Wullar lake issues automatically. For some odd reasons the Indians always insist on dealing with Siachin and Wullar lake issue separately. Both are physically located in the disputed area. A resolution of Kashmir dispute could greatly facilitate the removal of minor irritations such as Siachin and Wullar issues.

Perhaps the most important topic that seemed to have been discussed is Pakistan-US relations. Pakistan is known for its strict adherence to any commitment it makes either bilaterally or to a multilateral forum. Within the overall ambit of Pak-US relations, the recent American focus is on Pakistan’s contributions to war against terrorism. It is a well-known fact that no other member of the international coalition to combat terrorism has contributed more than what Pakistan has done so far. Equally well-known fact is that some members of international coalition use the alliance to advance their own agenda.

The current American concerns revolve around developments in Wana and areas across the Afghan border. Despite being fully cognizant of the sensitivities of the people in Frontier province, not only the American force intruded into the Pakistani territory either inadvertently or deliberately but critical statements by the senior American officials also invoked strong reactions and anger among the people of Pakistan. Some American officials stationed in Afghanistan even went to the extent of issuing irresponsible statements implying deliberate intrusion into the Pakistani territory.

It is indeed creditable that the Pakistani authorities took a saner view of such thoughtless statements of some of these officials. However this did not mean that they shirked from undertaking their commitments. The two-track approach involving political negotiations as well as the use of military means reported to have been appreciated by the Americans as well. Although the firm Pakistani commitment to stamp out terrorism is paying dividends but it is also taking certain amount of toll.

Another issue that must have been discussed is the American efforts to enlist support of many nations to have a United Nation force to help the Americans especially in Iraq. Given the recent revelations about American soldiers behavior in treating the prisoners of war in somewhat contrary to Geneva Convention has invoked strong sympathetic reaction among many nations and it would not be too far fetched to assume that to enlist support gesture for the Americans have become even more difficult.

It needs to be mentioned here that overall relationship between the US and Pakistan reflect almost regulars ups and downs. While Pakistan has always lived up to the expectations of alliance or coalition partners, the Americans have often packed up after the attainment of their regional objectives and sometimes even left their partners in lurch. During the earlier period of Pak-US relations, Pakistan was linked with US through three bilateral and multilateral alliances. Not only Pakistan and US had signed mutual defense assistance treaty but Pakistan also joined South East Asia Treaty Organization and Central Treaty organization (initially it was known as Baghdad Pact).

The disillusionment with the Cold War alliances as well as with the American policy pursuits left Pakistan not with much of choices but to withdraw from the alliances. However it needs to be stressed here that many Pakistanis are somewhat skeptical about American commitments. One cannot blame them as this assessment is basically based on their past behavior. Invariably the American demonstrated some sort of hurriedness once his or her own objectives were attained and left the partners with all kinds of problems. However this time the Americans appear to be taking pains to convince the Pakistanis that they have opted for long-term relationships. If one is to judge from the past experiences with the Americans then option for a careful attitude would not be all that surprising.

While it is always quite easy to convincingly criticize the other party, the difficult part is to confront one’s own mistakes and misguided pursuits. Both parties have made mistakes but after 9/11 it appears that the American assertiveness have annoyed many. Compared to war in Afghanistan, the war in Iraq has been subjected to severe criticism. The initial reasons given by the American administration revolved around the removal of Saddam Hussain and the search for WMD (weapons of mass destruction) though independent analysts were also highlighting, even at that time, the control over Iraqi oil, changing the map of Middle east and advancing the Israeli agenda.

Judged by any yardstick it appears that this time both the Americans and the Pakistanis have been somewhat realistic in their approaches towards each other. While the Pakistanis are fully cognizant of American strategic partnership with India, the Pakistanis are also responding to American overtures with utmost care and in congruence with the dictates of Pakistan’s national interests. Chistina Rocca’s visit seems no more than a routine attempt to comprehend each other’s interpretations of various changing situations.