IN his wide-ranging address to the session of the National Assembly, Prime Minister dwelt at length on different issues of concern to the people, the international community and points being agitated by the opposition parties. He defended policy of the government in respect of handling the situation arising out of Covid-19 describing it as the best and without any confusion and maintained that it was because of the realistic foreign policy of the government that helped restored trust of the US in Pakistan and its dented image.
There is no doubt that on several issues and on several occasions, the incumbent government adopted a stand and strongly defended the cause of Pakistan as per aspirations of the people and to the dismay of the enemies of the country. It is acknowledged by local and foreign observers that Prime Minister Imran Khan had a clear approach towards the issue of terrorism as he declared that the country would not fight war of others. Pakistan was brow-beaten and pressurized repeatedly by the United States to continue to do more, which effectively meant that the country should advance the cause of Washington as far as war on terrorism is concerned even if it resulted into grievous losses and damages to the core interests and reputation of the country. The US built pressure and used economic and military assistance tools to force Pakistan into towing its lines on the issue but Pakistan took a principled decision to support peace process and not continued bloodshed in neighbouring Afghanistan as instability in that country inevitably impacts upon stability, progress and development of Pakistan. It was because of the forthright stand of the government that the United States ultimately had to seek support of Pakistan for the cause of dialogue and restoration of peace in Afghanistan. Credit goes to Pakistan for meaningful progress in dialogue between the United States and Taliban and is now fervently working to take the process of reconciliation to a logical conclusion by supporting the cause of intra-Afghan dialogue. One would agree with the Prime Minister that the dignified policy of Pakistan brought about a change of attitude in Washington towards Islamabad but this change is for limited purposes and there is no overall or long-term change of approach towards Pakistan. This is evident from the latest US Annual Country Report on Terrorism which alleged “although Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan has been seriously degraded, key figures among AQ’s global leadership, as well as its regional affiliate Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), continued to operate from remote locations in the region that historically served as safe havens.”
The tone and tenor of the report convey a message of doing Indian bidding on the issue of terrorism, which is aimed at maligning Pakistan and keeping eyes closed to state-sponsored terrorism in Occupied Kashmir, which continues to be under siege and lockout for the last over one year. Pakistan Foreign Office has rightly rejected the report and expressed disappointment over its characterization of Pakistan’s efforts to help fight the menace of terrorism pointing out that it is either silent or vague on the origins and locations of these terrorist groups that it is being blamed for. There is genuine perception not only in Pakistan but also among right-minded people of the international community that whatever successes that the United States boasts of in its campaign again terror are due to dominating role of Pakistan in eliminating the threat. The genuineness of Pakistan’s efforts is also evident from successful war fought by the defence forces as a result of which the issue of terrorism has mostly been addressed and whatever traces of terrorism one sees in the country have their origin in some other countries that are destabilising and maligning Pakistan. It is also unfortunate that the United States, on the one hand, recognizes Kashmir as a dispute (and is also willing to play the role of a mediator subject to request for the purpose by Pakistan and India) but on the other hand, it has closed its eyes all together towards attempts being made by New Delhi to alter the status of the territory and trampling of human rights of Kashmiris by occupation forces. The Prime Minister and his government, therefore, should not pin undue expectations on the United States and move on to help Pakistan stand on its own feet economically to get rid of manipulation of some aspects of the country’s foreign policy by some powerful players.
