Daily Times

The Pak-US fandango is in need of some expert choreography.

For as things stand presently, there have been more than a few missteps that continue to lead to confusion all round. And this week has been no exception.

In the wake of the Pakistan Armed Forces assertion that there are no organised terrorist sanctuaries in the country — the Pentagon has said that the US military will not engage in hot pursuit across this side of the border.

Unfortunately, this raises more questions than it answers.

Such as, was this a matter of official policy under previous White House administrations? After all, the Pakistani citizenry has never been offered any satisfactory clarification on the 2004 “rules of engagement” that reportedly allowed American soldiers, stationed in neighbouring Afghanistan, the unilateral right to incursion. Favourable conditions included going after the Big Three: Bin Laden, al-Zawahri and Mullah Omar. The Pakistani military establishment has long dismissed the agreement as one that never was while, at the time, the US insisted it would likely not act without keeping Islamabad in the loop. This was a proviso that both Obama and Hillary took off the table when they were battling it out for the Democrat candidacy.

Thus, in superficial terms at least, this latest disclosure suggests that Washington has accepted the Pakistani military establishment’s line on the safe-haven front. And that ongoing calls for this country to still do more, more, more to secure the American exit from the Afghan quagmire of its own making are for appearances’ sake only. After all, Trump Town has thrown its weight behind Kabul’s Taliban peace package. And Islamabad, it believes, holds the key to getting the latter to the table; something that has been underscored by President Ghani’s recent invitation to PM Abbasi to visit the war-torn country.

All of which raises questions over the Pentagon spokesman’s comments to Afghan and Indian media in which he said that the US military can perhaps live with a Taliban that resides within Pakistan’s borders; as long as these elements do not jeopardise Afghan security. This will naturally fuel the not entirely illegitimate conspiracies contending that the American and NATO war machines are not leaving this region any time soon. For the one thing that the Taliban have been insistent on throughout is the withdrawal of foreign troops from the country.

It is hoped that this “trade-off” is linked to reports that certain factions of the Taliban are receptive to joining the peace process; and that this represents an understanding of sorts when it comes to nudging the militants towards peace. Yet there is the not un-small matter of whether India was taken into confidence ahead of this surprise briefing on future policy. It is pertinent to bring this up now; especially given how, back in November, the Pentagon stepped in to de-link Lashkar-e-Taiba from reimbursement conditions.

Yet the priority for Pakistan must be to seek absolute clarification on all these points; while keeping the citizenry in the loop.  *

Published in Daily Times, March 22^nd 2018.