Bold statement by kiyani
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THE military press release issued on Friday was no routine update on the army chief’s remarks at the ongoing Nato conference in Spain. Gen Kayani emphasised “Pakistan’s sovereign right to formulate policy in accordance with its national interest”. This seemingly general statement was, of course, a response to pressure to go into North Waziristan against the Haqqani network in the wake of Tuesday’s attack on the US embassy and Nato headquarters in Kabul. Perhaps in tandem, the prime minister said the same day, when asked to comment on this pressure, that the US itself should ‘do more’. He also cancelled, at the eleventh hour, his trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly. While this could well be due to the ongoing floods — the official reason provided — there are media reports that it may have been a response to the White House’s reported refusal to schedule a meeting for the prime minister with President Obama.
The cumulative impression from these developments, then, is that Pakistan is being more assertive than usual in the face of increasing pressure from the US. Diplomatic efforts at the regional level only support this sense. Afghanistan and Pakistan announced on Friday that they had developed a blueprint for bilateral cooperation on reconciliation with the Afghan Taliban, a process in which the US is not included, with the Afghan foreign minister saying the two countries should “take our affairs into our own hands”. The prime minister’s recent visit to Iran and the Joint Economic Commission meeting in Islamabad that preceded it established new levels of cooperation with Tehran, and the US has reportedly expressed its disapproval.
Does all of this reflect the beginning of a new level of independence from the US, or is it simply a short-term tactic to fend off pressure? Gen Kayani told the foreign press on Friday he doesn’t think Afghanistan will be ready for the withdrawal of international troops by 2014. If this is in fact his real assessment, recent moves begin to make sense. Wary of a breakdown of authority in a post-US Afghanistan, and continuing to believe that certain militants can serve as useful tools for defending the national interest, Pakistan may continue to prioritise regional relationships and resist calls to do more in North Waziristan. It also needs to take into account operational and budgetary realities that constrain its ability to open up a new and very difficult front in that agency. The risk it runs, of course, is exacerbating tensions in its already fraught relationship with the US, an ally it most likely cannot do without.
Bold statement by Kiyani
Posted 8 months ago on 18 Sep 2011 22:51
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