Daily Times

The vibes emerging from the Washington DC during and after the three-day visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan signify cogent reasons for the nation to be hopeful forrepair and transformation of frayed bilateral relations with the USA into a new mutually advantageous partnership based on shared political, economic and strategic interests. Given the past history of Pak-USA relations built on short-term strategic impulses and the known USA inconsistency in its foreign policy undertakings, we have to temper with a pragmatic approach the triumphalism that has permeated the corridors of power in Islamabad.

The US compulsion to extricate from Afghanistan much before the end of this year; the crucial role Pakistan can play in bringing the Taliban on the negotiating table with the Afghan regime, and help in resolving other issues of the proposed peace deal forced the American leadership to bite the bullet and rediscover the love-lost for Pakistan which President Donald Trump was branding a cheat ‘taking American money and doing nothing for it’. Given the heavy American tilt to India in the so called Pacific-strategic partnership with a pervasive role in the rebuilding of Afghanistan, Pakistan diversified its relations with the powerful countries of the region driving home its contention for a regional approach to Afghanistan conundrum.

No doubt, the foreign policy of a country does not remain static or stuck in a stumbling block. Diplomacy always looks for possible convergence of economic and strategic interests to turn hostile relations into a paying partnership between states. Bilateral relations between Pakistan and the USA, both in distant and recent past, have already gone through cyclical phases of warming up and falling to the lowest ebb. This gives us cause for cautious approach. That is why there were repetitive counsels to Prime Minister Khan from foreign policy experts for ‘not punching the bag more than our weight’ or ‘Pakistan should not bite off more than it can chew’ or we should not indulge in cock-a-hoop over what the American leadership promised or offered.

President Trump’s remarks are like a two-edged sword. The mediation by a powerful and resourceful country like the USA on any complex issue of international import as Kashmir taking into consideration the interests of all the stakeholders should be a welcome

However, we should welcome the change of heart in Washington DC and the USA advance to improve bilateral relations. Prime Minister Imran Khan was wise enough to seek trade instead of aid making it clear to his interlocutors that Pakistan needed peace in Afghanistan more than any other country and was pleading rightfully with the parties to the Afghanistan conflict to come down from their intransigent perch and negotiate with the Taliban to upend the longest war. Prime Minister Khan’s talks with the US leadership from the White House to the Capitol Hill, from President Donald Trump to Mike Pompeo, Senators and Congressmen were honest and candid going straight to the heart and mind of his hosts.

What the impression the American leaders had formed from their briefs about Prime Minister Khan was reflected in their spontaneous words of praise for his deep nationalism, patriotism, integrity, tenacity and toughness as a leader. This added weight to what he realistically undertook to do for return of peace to neighbouring Afghanistan ‘trying seriously to convince the Taliban to talk to the Afghan regime’ and warning to his hosts simultaneously that it would not be an easy task. The USA leaders were not oblivious to the centrality of Pakistan’s role for stability in Afghanistan after the peace deal and for stemming the growth of terrorism in that country. Prime Minister Khan tried to assuage their concerns on this count.

There was a strong feeling among the USA leaders that trade between the two countries needed to be expanded- may be, as put it by President Donald Trump, 20 or 10 times more than the current two-way volume of $6.6billion. Some Senators even talked of a free trade regime. If the recalibrated relationship with the USA helps us achieve this single objective, our foreign-aid dependent economy would certainly enter into a self-propelled phase of growth. There was a clear acknowledgement from the USA leader that Pakistan was helping them in a lot of ways and that ‘a lot of things would be happening for Pakistan’. This reflected the possibility of the restoration of the stalled financial assistance and the Coalition Support Funds to Pakistan.

His remarks that he could mediate or arbitrate on the question of Kashmir between Pakistan and India and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made such a request to him some time ago struck India like a naked sword. Though Prime Minister Imran Khan welcomed his offer saying over one billion people of the Sub-continent would be praying for him, we should not stretch his remarks too far as a quid pro quo for our help to them in Afghanistan. The proposal is bound to fall flat. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs actually was quick to repudiate President Trump’s claim. The White House Economic Advisor Larry Kudlow asserted in response that ‘President Trump does not make things up’ implying that Mr. Modi had made a request.

President Trump’s remarks are like a two-edged sword. The mediation by a powerful and resourceful country like the USA on any complex issue of international import as Kashmir taking into consideration the interests of all the stakeholders should be a welcome. The arbitration has the pronounced possibility of bulldozing its decision by the arbitrating power. We should avoid falling into the pitfall of arbitration. We had a bitter experience of this in Tashkent in 1965 when the Soviet leaders imposed a treaty on us which did not have a reference to the Jammu and Kashmir. The USA, at best, may leverage its influence with India to start the stalled bilateral talks diffusing tension on our Eastern border.

Apparently, we have made no commitment to the US leaders for a role in the Gulf conflict except for diffusing tension there nor we have accepted any compromise on CPEC or our strategic and economic collaboration with China and Russia. This is the most gratifying aspect of the visit.

The author was a member of the Foreign Service of Pakistan and he has authored two books