Daily Times

President Asif Ali Zardari, during his meeting with Marc Grossman, US Special Representative of Pakistan and Afghanistan, urged the US to not allow an isolated incident to affect Pak-US ties. Mr Grossman, however, once again repeated the initial position of the US that Raymond Davis enjoyed diplomatic immunity and that Pakistan’s relations with the US could be restored to the pre-Davis incident level only after it released their man. The Lahore High Court will determine on March 14 whether Davis enjoys diplomatic immunity or not after hearing Foreign Office’s position and scrutinising relevant documents. Meanwhile, the court case is proceeding and Davis is likely to be charged with a double murder this week by a sessions court. On the other hand, various government officials, including the prime minister, have stated that the government is not seeking a backdoor solution and will let the court decide the case. Both sides are holding on their rigid positions without conceding an inch.

The issue, however, will not be resolved without finding a middle path. The jury is out whether this will be possible given the apparent hardening of positions on both sides. In the media and on the street the rhetoric is gaining resonance that the US is using agents like Raymond Davis to destabilise Pakistan, but it was Pakistan under Musharraf that first gave a carte blanche to the American CIA to carry out its activities in the region while the US continued to support the illegal rule of President Musharraf post-9/11. The extent of those activities has come under public spotlight only when Davis blew his cover arguably in dire circumstances by killing in broad daylight two Pakistanis, whose real activities and affiliations remain suspicious. Prima facie, there is more to it than an attempt to rob Raymond Davis, who appears to have chased them and made sure they were dead. The digging in of the heels by the Pakistan side signifies that this incident is being used to reverse that policy and gain concessions from Washington. It is difficult for a client state like Pakistan living on doles from the US to negotiate its position with a superpower by using an arrested agent. If flexibility is not shown by the two sides, the issue will get complicated and end up hurting the interests of both. *