Alliances are not based on constantly agreeing with one's peers, nor do they require that any one party reserve the authority to dictate terms that the other must accept unequivocallyIn the past year, Pakistan hasn’t attracted as many American tourists as it has state department big wigs. US Special Envoy Richard Holbrooke is in Pakistan almost every other week. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Senator John Kerry was in the country recently to shed light on the ‘true intentions’ of the Kerry-Lugar Bill. And this past week, the most influential of them all, former first lady and current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Pakistan for a much talked about visit.
Despite this deluge of high profile visits, it appears that the gulf between Pakistan and the United States is widening rather than abating. The reasons behind this are both historical and current. Historically, Pakistan blames the US for abandoning it during the war of 1965 as well as for the latter’s slow response in curtailing Indian interference that resulted in the loss of East Pakistan in 1971. Presently, it blames the US for imposing a proxy war on Pakistan as well as being directly responsible for the loss of innocent lives in drone attacks.
The US and Pakistan might be experiencing some bumps in their long-standing relationship, but Pakistanis must remember that a lot of their economic progress relies on the US. The US is home to one of the largest expatriate Pakistani populations in the world, close to 1.2 million by some estimates. American universities enrol have the most Pakistani students after the United Kingdom; the US healthcare industry employs over 15,000 Pakistani doctors; the US is the largest market for Pakistani exports; and Pakistani Americans send over 1.6 billion dollars in foreign remittances every year to Pakistan.
These facts should make Pakistan realise that the US is an important ally and that the relationship between both countries should not and cannot be defined by one bill or one administration. Based on its significance, it is important that both the government and the opposition should have a unified foreign policy position towards the US. Both the Republican and the Democratic parties in America have agreed on a joint policy towards Pakistan as demonstrated by the joint formulation of the Kerry-Lugar bill, put forward by Democratic Senator John Kerry and Republican Senator Richard Lugar. The opposition should refrain from resorting to un-diplomatic language that can damage long-term relations between the two countries.
Alliances are not based on constantly agreeing with one’s peers, nor do they require that any one party reserve the authority to dictate terms that the other must accept unequivocally. Diplomacy requires speaking with an open heart and mind with a view to sharing ideas and forming joint strategies to garner mutual benefits. Pakistan must try to convince the US that Afghanistan is a regional problem and all stakeholders in the region need to be invited to the discussion table. Pakistan must demonstrate that it is a moderate nation that is currently battling an extremist tide, which is not entirely of its own making despite some unwise policy decisions in the past.
In the early 1970s, Pakistan helped open the doors of cooperation between the US and China, neither of which had previously enjoyed diplomatic relations with each other. Pakistan can once again play that role by bringing Iran and the US to the table to sort out their differences and reduce tensions in the region. Iran shares borders with both Afghanistan and Iraq, making it almost imperative that both the US and Iran try and resolve their differences through dialogue. The European Union is not the right platform for this. A regional conference involving Iran, China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan and the US could achieve many objectives, including agreements on Iran’s nuclear programme and the stabilisation of Afghanistan and Iraq.
No country can hope to expect steady economic growth if it faces terror threats on a daily basis and when almost all of its neighbours are hostile towards it. Economic growth requires peace, stability and continuity. Pakistan has weak political institutions, ineffective law and order and a narrow industrial base. If Pakistan wants to achieve long-term prosperity it must allow democracy to flourish, modernise its police and educate its masses.
The Pakistani people have demonstrated their resilience and sense of unity under conditions of extreme duress time and again. The Pakistani national response to the earthquake in 2005 and the unified position against constant terror attacks is a sure testimony to the nation’s resilience. All it needs now is capable leadership in all spheres of government to hopefully build upon the successful efforts of previous regimes rather than tear them down.
The writer is the president-elect of the Pakistan Chamber of Commerce-USA
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