Daily Times

On June 26, Pakistan’s Foreign Office could not restrain itself from summoning the US Deputy Chief of Mission and issuing him a demarche. The objective was to convey Pakistan’s displeasure on the US-India joint statement, which was issued after a meeting between US President Joe Biden and visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 22, 2023.

Earlier, Pakistan’s foreign office had denounced the joint statement (comprising 58 paragraphs) by calling it “unwarranted, one-sided, and misleading.” Nevertheless, Pakistan’s main objection was to paragraph 32, which demanded from Pakistan to undertake concerted action against all UN-listed terrorist groups including Lashkar-e Tayyiba, Jaish-e Mohammad and Hizb-ul Mujahideen. Both countries “strongly condemned cross-border terrorism, the use of terrorist proxies and called on Pakistan to take immediate action to ensure that no territory under its control is used for launching terrorist attacks. They called for the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai and Pathankot attacks to be brought to justice.”

The paragraph meant that the US was convinced that Pakistan was a perpetrator of terrorism from across the border. The same point also meant that the US was not only annoyed at Pakistan, but the US also wanted to appease India at the cost of Pakistan. Ironically, Pakistan’s foreign office tried to counter this point by emphasizing Pakistan’s counter-terrorism efforts performed on the western border with Afghanistan. This was how Pakistan’s foreign office came up with a gaffe.

Through the demarche, Pakistan tried to convey that the US had to ensure an enabling environment, which should be centred on trust.

Paragraph 32 further stated: “They [both countries] noted with concern the increasing global use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), drones and information and communication technologies for terrorist purposes and reaffirmed the importance of working together to combat such misuse.” This is a point of concern for Pakistan. Is Pakistan being suspected of promoting any kind of terrorism through UAVs or drones across Pak-India border?

The same paragraph also called upon the “Financial Action Task Force [FATF] to undertake further work identifying how to improve global implementation of its standards to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism.” This point simply reveals the reason for the FATF coming harsh on Pakistan, which remained on the FATF grey list for about four years (2018-2022).

Now, Pakistan deemed it fit to censure the US as well. Through the demarche, Pakistan tried to convey that the US had to ensure an enabling environment, which should be centred on trust and understanding to solidify Pak-US ties further. That is, if the US does not guarantee so, ties would be rendered tenuous. This was another gaffe that Pakistan’s foreign office made.

Apparently, the joint statement seems to have unnerved Pakistan, which was revelling in an environment of comfort that the US was in need of Pakistan more than Pakistan needed the US. Pakistan seeks solace in the banality that Washington bets big on India as a counterweight to China. Did India ever say that it was ready to counter China or did China say that it would never let India counterweight it? The answers are in negative.

Interestingly, other than paragraph 32, the joint statement tells a story of joint ventures in the fields of technology and defence. These joint ventures would take place in the land of India. For instance, with a mutual investment of $2.75 billion, a semiconductor assembly and testing plant would be built in India. In this deal, the investment share of US chip giant Micro will be $800. India would do the rest of the investment.

The joint venture would offer two advantages to India: first, more than half of Indian investment would ensure the transfer of technology and training of Indian technicians or engineers; second, India would offer a new supply source of semi-conductors to Micro, which has recently announced to invest $600 million in a factory in China. That is, India would diversify the supply chains of advanced semiconductors. The act would enhance the productivity of US companies, which would support the US economy and help the US gain a competitive edge in the world.

In the joint statement, other than paragraph 32, India has emerged as a joint investor taking care of the commercial interests of the US companies away from the US mainland. The joint investment would be done not at the cost of China. Instead, India has offered its wealth, land and manpower to diversify and broaden the supply base of semiconductors to the US. This strategy of India made it valuable in the eyes of Biden, who showed an obvious tilt towards India. Pakistan’s foreign office fails to understand this turn of events. Around 60,000 Indians would be trained to develop semiconductors in India for Micro. The success of this project would introduce India as a high-tech manufacturing base in addition to (or alternative to) China. By the way, the joint statement also showed the prospective joint venture of both countries to do space programs.

On the other hand, most Pakistanis like to live in a state of delusion. In Pakistan, there is a school of thought which earnestly believes that India is fast assuming the status of a willing pawn ever ready to sacrifice its head in the emerging US-China rivalry. Furthermore, India would play the role of the US outpost in the South China Sea. Similarly, the same school of thought also believes that China would also be ready to engage with India. That is, both rising economic powers, India and China, would be stupid to get entangled with each other – sacrificing financial gains at the altar of the US.

Instead of lamenting the Modi-Biden bonhomie, Pakistan’s foreign office should advise the government to offer the US a similar venture of joint investment. Otherwise, the economic distance between India and Pakistan is fast increasing. It is still surprising that, despite the huge population of India, the Indian youth are not using boats to enter Europe illegally. They are not taking the risk of drowning themselves to improve their lives. Instead, India is focusing on educating and training its youth to be productive for both India and the world. Pakistan has refused to learn this lesson.

Pakistan’s foreign office must understand that denouncement of joint statements and demarches cannot work anymore. Currently, on the verge of economic default, Pakistan is trying to seek foreign investment mostly from the Gulf countries. India, however, has shown a different way of economic progress to the world.

The writer can be reached at qaisarrashid @yahoo.com.