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US, Pakistan cannot afford a divorce
By Daud Malik
ISLAMABAD, March 9: Pakistan and the United States have to work closely to bring reasonable stability to war-ravaged Afghanistan as an outright Taliban victory there entails serious consequences for both, a visiting American scholar warned on Wednesday.
We cannot afford a divorce in our relations, Dr Marvin G. Weinbaum said giving a talk on `Challenges in US-Pakistan Relations` at the Institute of Strategic Studies (ISS). Because the stakes are too high, he said, the US presence in the region would be long-term.
Despite all the ups and downs in their relations, the two countries have to move forward, he said, calling the US disengagement from the region after the Soviet withdrawal in 1989 a most unfortunate move.
We walked away from the region without a political arrangement in Afghanistan, he said and suggested more people-to-people contacts rather than elite-to-elite only.
Maintaining that a stable Afghanistan is in the interest of everybody, he painted a grim picture if the US and the coalition forces are defeated, with Pakistan facing most of the consequences.
He said the destabilisation will not be confined to Afghanistan as the new leadership of Taliban has a `trans-national agenda`. He said if the Taliban survive the war in their country, there will be every motive for them to go beyond Durand Line. For him, a Taliban victory will lead to civil war, with the prospect of Pakistan again being burdened with millions of refugees. He said a proxy war in Afghanistan would be a nightmare for Pakistan, with India having much larger role.
Telling Islamabad to stop seeing Kabul through the prism of Indian influence there, he termed a political solution of Afghan problem a positive outcome for the US and Pakistan and their relations. Everybody wants a political solution for Afghanistan, but the trouble is that nobody sees that happening anytime soon and therefore everybody, including Pakistan, is working on a reserve strategy. And often the `reserve strategy`, he said, is in conflict with the goal of stability and peace in Afghanistan. He did not see Taliban `integrating` into any political setup in Kabul.
Reviewing the history of the Washington-Islamabad ties, Mr Weinbaum tried to show that the US always wanted democracy in Pakistan, contrary to what is believed that it backed the military regimes. He said the US was not `happy` when the elected governments of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif were taken over in military coups in 1977 and 1999. The close ties with the military rulers â Ziaul Haq and Pervez Musharraf â should be seen in the context of the Soviet attack on Afghanistan and 9/11, he said.
Introducing the scholar as an old friend of Pakistan, Jehangir Ashraf Qazi, former envoy, termed Pakistan ties with the US a strange animal. He said the two countries have closely cooperated with each other over the decades but mistrust had marked their relations.
During the question-answer session, Mr Weinbaum rejected the talk of identifying and hitting targets inside Pakistan, saying it would `energise` Pakistani Taliban. He also saw no change on the pattern of Middle East in Pakistan, as the country has been witnessing changes in governments and has been spared of `demagogues`. He agreed with a comment that the US should not support `corrupt` governments in countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan.
US, Pakistan cannot afford a divorce | Newspaper | DAWN.COM
By Daud Malik
ISLAMABAD, March 9: Pakistan and the United States have to work closely to bring reasonable stability to war-ravaged Afghanistan as an outright Taliban victory there entails serious consequences for both, a visiting American scholar warned on Wednesday.
We cannot afford a divorce in our relations, Dr Marvin G. Weinbaum said giving a talk on `Challenges in US-Pakistan Relations` at the Institute of Strategic Studies (ISS). Because the stakes are too high, he said, the US presence in the region would be long-term.
Despite all the ups and downs in their relations, the two countries have to move forward, he said, calling the US disengagement from the region after the Soviet withdrawal in 1989 a most unfortunate move.
We walked away from the region without a political arrangement in Afghanistan, he said and suggested more people-to-people contacts rather than elite-to-elite only.
Maintaining that a stable Afghanistan is in the interest of everybody, he painted a grim picture if the US and the coalition forces are defeated, with Pakistan facing most of the consequences.
He said the destabilisation will not be confined to Afghanistan as the new leadership of Taliban has a `trans-national agenda`. He said if the Taliban survive the war in their country, there will be every motive for them to go beyond Durand Line. For him, a Taliban victory will lead to civil war, with the prospect of Pakistan again being burdened with millions of refugees. He said a proxy war in Afghanistan would be a nightmare for Pakistan, with India having much larger role.
Telling Islamabad to stop seeing Kabul through the prism of Indian influence there, he termed a political solution of Afghan problem a positive outcome for the US and Pakistan and their relations. Everybody wants a political solution for Afghanistan, but the trouble is that nobody sees that happening anytime soon and therefore everybody, including Pakistan, is working on a reserve strategy. And often the `reserve strategy`, he said, is in conflict with the goal of stability and peace in Afghanistan. He did not see Taliban `integrating` into any political setup in Kabul.
Reviewing the history of the Washington-Islamabad ties, Mr Weinbaum tried to show that the US always wanted democracy in Pakistan, contrary to what is believed that it backed the military regimes. He said the US was not `happy` when the elected governments of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif were taken over in military coups in 1977 and 1999. The close ties with the military rulers â Ziaul Haq and Pervez Musharraf â should be seen in the context of the Soviet attack on Afghanistan and 9/11, he said.
Introducing the scholar as an old friend of Pakistan, Jehangir Ashraf Qazi, former envoy, termed Pakistan ties with the US a strange animal. He said the two countries have closely cooperated with each other over the decades but mistrust had marked their relations.
During the question-answer session, Mr Weinbaum rejected the talk of identifying and hitting targets inside Pakistan, saying it would `energise` Pakistani Taliban. He also saw no change on the pattern of Middle East in Pakistan, as the country has been witnessing changes in governments and has been spared of `demagogues`. He agreed with a comment that the US should not support `corrupt` governments in countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan.
US, Pakistan cannot afford a divorce | Newspaper | DAWN.COM