Daily Times

Important events took place in local and foreign politics in Pakistan. One the one hand, the Panama Papers and the JIT kept the politically minded glued to the TV screen, while on the other, the Chinese foreign minister’s visit and later the US senators’ trip to Pakistan raised many eyebrows and questions. But perhaps the most talked about story in Pakistan was that of Raymond Davis’s book, The Contractor.

To begin with, the US senators’ delegation led by Senator John McCain was expected because US policy makers wanted to engage Pakistani (military) authorities in the hope of getting them on board to counter terrorism across the spectrum. The US has already bombed Afghanistan and, as per Donald Trump’s tweets, has decided to increase the number of US troops in that country.

In the last half year, a debate was ongoing in the US on the need to devise a strategy to deal with militant networks based in and around Pakistan. Though the final policy is still to be made public, media reports point to a likely two-pronged counter-terrorism policy: a mix of soft and hard measures.

This means the Trump administration will approach Pakistan for military cooperation as in the past with one significant policy shift. Pakistan will strongly be urged to eradicate terror networks from its soil that, according to the US, hold peace hostage in Afghanistan.

If one reads the media coverage of the US senators visiting Pakistan, it is more than obvious they wanted to engage Pakistan and if Rawalpindi is willing to change its policy on, for example, the Haqqani network, assist the country financially and technologically.

The senators seemed so obsessed with their Afghanistan problem that they not only passed statement surging Pakistan to eliminate the mentioned networks but also made a symbolic visit to Waziristan that borders Afghanistan. The Pakistani authorities, from their perspective, might have found an opportunity to impress upon the delegation how effectively the former is fighting terrorism.

Measures taken so far to combat terrorism are only partly successful since bomb blasts continue to occur in places like Parachinar. We have also done little to counter extremism on the ideological front.

Pakistan should take the senators’ visit seriously for our own sake. Firstly, it will be a failure of our foreign policy to solely and blindly rely on one country, be that China or Saudi Arabia.

Secondly, Pakistan has a history of bilateral relations with the US. Indeed, the two countries need to establish a bilateral mechanism to resolve irritants and develop a relationship beyond Afghanistan.

Third, considering Trump’s way of managing foreign policy, it seems this is Pakistan’s last opportunity to amend its behaviour towards home-grown militants and their impact on regional stability.

If the opportunity is wasted, the second prong of American policy is likely to take effect which would view Pakistan in purely negative terms where this negativity may range from economic sanctions to a surge in drone attacks.

One hopes rationality prevails in Pakistan since we are an underdeveloped country which needs foreign exchange that only comes with cooperation with advanced countries. India, for instance, is doing this.

The US is least interested in Pakistan; it is not post-9/11. It is India that is in the news, in public discussions and in US policy circles. Pakistan at best is a peripheral concern and bracketed with Afghanistan

Besides the US senators, the other story dominating the news in Pakistan is Raymond Davis’ book, The Contractor. The Davis story is already known to the interested one and, to put it simply, there is nothing new in the book which is simply a more complicated narrative of his diary-based memories in Pakistan.

However, Pakistani reactions to the book were hilarious. Rather than critically approach the book, most Pakistanis reflected the usual semi-literate and non-academic attitude. To a vast so called educated majority, the book was a conspiracy against Pakistan.

To others, it was evidence of US intervention in Pakistani politics in favour of the Sharif government because the book came out when the JIT is busy grilling the Sharif family.

In fact, publications of memories are a universal practice and thousands of similar books are launched in the US every day.

The US is least interested in Pakistan; it is not post-9/11. It is India that is in the news, in public discussions and in US policy circles. Pakistan at best is a peripheral concern and bracketed with Afghanistan.

Last but not the least, rather than indulge in conspiracies, we should as a society develop a habit to read a book and evaluate it analytically. In the case of The Contractor, it is its contents that matter more than its pattern of circulation.

Imran Khan, who recommended this book to all, should read it himself to know what Babar Awan, Firdous Awan, Imtiaz Warriach, Nazar Gondal etc., did as part of the then incumbent government. Finally, Imran Khan and all those who believe in conspiracies must read a basic book on International Relations to know small powers lack leverage over major powers.

Pakistan acted rationally to side with the US post-9/11 and the Raymond Davis matter was resolved amicably in the interest of the nation.

The writer is Head, Department of Social Sciences, Iqra University, Islamabad. He is a DAAD, FDDI and Fulbright Fellow. He tweets @ejazbhatty

Published in Daily Times, July 8^th , 2017.