Japanese interest in development of FATA

ON the occasion of visit to Pakistan by its Foreign Minister, Japan on Saturday announced an assistance programme for development of Tribal Areas of the country. Tokyo will provide assistance worth 770 million yen for promotion of education and health facilities in FATA.

The world these days is concerned about and focused on the issue of extremism and terrorism and in this context Pakistan tribal region is considered to be at the centre stage of the war on terror. American and other Western countries believe that it is from this area that terrorist activities against neighbouring Afghanistan and other parts of the world are planned. The United States has gone to the extent of saying that future attacks on America would come from FATA where Al-Qaeda and Taliban are active. Though most of such claims are mere allegations and an attempt to shift attention from American aggression against people of Afghanistan and Iraq where dozens of innocent souls are eliminated on almost daily basis but it is also a fact that there are some trouble spots in FATA. It is generally believed that bomb blasts and suicide attacks in different parts of Pakistan are remote-controlled from this area. It is because of the threats emanating from FATA that a sizeable number of Pakistan Army troops have been deputed in the tribal areas. Apart from action by our forces, the US and NATO occupation forces in Afghanistan have been launching selected attacks inside FATA, which have also resulted into a large number of civilian casualties. Pakistani leadership has been emphasizing and this perception is shared by the entire nation that the problem of terrorism cannot be tackled only through military means and in fact use of force gives rise to more militancy and extremism. A multi-pronged approached with more focus on socio-economic development of the area is the only solution of the problem but regrettably progress on this front is negligible. Years back the United States agreed to provide 750 million dollars for development of FATA and also promised to help establish Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZs) but the US is moving very slowly towards that end. As against this, credit goes to Japan that is actively involved in health and education sectors of the area and has committed a significant amount for the purpose. Not only that, the Japanese Foreign Minister has also pledged to apprise the members of G-8 in its capacity as the Chair of the G-8 summit, to assist Pakistan’s efforts to counter terrorism and militancy and for the socio-economic development of the tribal areas. This is step in the right direction as most of the youth from the area falls victim to militant tendencies only because of abysmal poverty and ignorance. While spread of knowledge would widen their world view, developmental activities like infrastructural facilities would link the remote region with the rest of the country and help them bring into the national mainstream.