Daily Times

WASHINGTON: Delay on part of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to announce the successor of Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif does not bode well for the institution, said Shuja Nawaz, distinguished fellow at Atlantic Council.

Talking to Daily Times, he said the announcement should have been made by now giving ample time to the outgoing chief to start the process of transfer of power to his successor.

“Very few people understand the importance of farewell calls by the outgoing chief. This has been an old tradition in the army. The outgoing chief visits different units. And the institution hosts a big farewell for the chief,” he explained.

He referred to the example of his late brother, General Asif Nawaz, who had succeeded General Aslam Beg after rumours circulated that Gen Beg would continue for another term.

Shuja Nawaz, a Pakistani-American scholar who travels to his native country quite frequently and has access to top military command, said the civil-military relations remains cold to the core despite apparent thaw.

“When they say both civil and military leaderships are on the same page I tend to agree, only if the page exists in two different books. The implementation of NAP (National Action Plan) in Punjab has been a source of discontent between the two,” he observed.

In his book “Crossed Swords: Pakistan, Its Army, and the Wars Within,” the scholar narrated history of the army and its relations with the civilian governments. The book was one of the authentic reads to understand the nature of civil-military relationship in Pakistan.

In the same book, Shuja Nawaz narrated an incident that how the Sharifs tried to woo the top military command in the past. He asserted when Gen Asif Nawaz went to see Nawaz Sharif in Nathia Gali, he was offered a new BMW car by the prime minister’s father Mian Sharif. The general refused to accept the gift. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan extensively quoted that incident in his speeches.

Shuja Nawaz claimed the pattern of recruitment has remarkably changed in the army. The past decades witnessed most of recruitments within the army done from Northern Punjab.

“Now most of the recruits hail from the interior and Southern Punjab. The cities like Jhang have many of their natives in the army. Secondly, the recruitments from the urban areas multiplied over the years. This may not be a good sign if army launches operation in those areas,” he elaborated.

Asked to comment on a recent interview of Ambassador Jaleel Abbas Jilani with Daily Times, in which the envoy denied overwhelming existence of anti-US sentiments in Pakistan, Shuja Nawaz grinned and said the surveys of Pew Research Centre tell a different story.

“However, most Pakistanis want to have good relations with the United States, despite they hate the country. I argued with the Pew several times to explore this,” he said.

Asked to comment on Pak-American relations, he said the ups and downs would continue to occur. Quoting a senior Pakistani scholar on foreign affairs, Dr Riffat Hussain, he said Pakistan and America are two bedfellows who though share a same bed but have different dreams. He said if she becomes the president, Hillary Clinton would be very tough with Pakistan. He said Clinton had given a very strong message to Pakistan, in 2014, when she advised the country to avoid keeping snakes in the backyard. She was referring to Haqqani Network.

He observed a world with Donald Trump as president of the United States would be a more dangerous place.

Shuja Nawaz occasionally briefs Vice President Joe Biden and regularly briefs the White House officials on security issues. He has recently launched a great initiative inviting creative youngsters from Pakistan to the US who, otherwise, have no means to travel overseas.