ISLAMABAD – Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Talat Masood has said that convergence or divergence of viewpoint on Afghanistan is the key driver of Pak-US relations.
He was speaking at a roundtable discussion organized by the Institute of Regional Studies (IRS) here on Thursday.
He argued that even though an agreement on the logistical arrangements for the reopening of the NATO supply route would soon be inked, US still has reservations about Pakistan’s efforts against the Haqqani Network (HQN), which the former considers a major threat to its forces in Afghanistan.
Gen. Masood maintained that assertions about Paksitan’s support for the HQN were exaggerated. He alluded to Pakistan army’s limitations in carrying out an operation in North Waziristan, and the need for coordination with the NATO forces across the border on the same as restraining factors in taking decisive action against the HQN.
He further added that undertaking a military operation in North Waziristan at a time when the Americans are also negotiating with the Taliban would also be counter-productive. Pakistan’s future policy with respect to HQN might, thus, be determined by whether the US government designates the HQN as a terrorist organization as suggested by its House of Representatives, argued Gen. Masood.
He criticized the drone attacks as counter-productive against the insurgency. He further added that the attacks were eroding “the capacity of Pakistan as a state in the eyes of its people.” He disagreed with the notion, however, that the U.S. was deliberately trying to destabilize Pakistan, maintianing that most of the problems that Pakistan is facing are of its own making.
Gen. Masood also questioned the commonly held perception in Pakistan that the U.S. wants to denuclearize Pakistan. He said that the U.S. might have made contingency plans about Pakistan’s nuclear weapons in case of any emergency but that would not amount to a concerted effort on the part of the U.S. to denuclearize Pakistan.
He said that the US and NATO are trying to give a greater role to India in Afghanistan because of their overall improving relations with the latter. He questioned Pakistan’s reservations about it though, arguing that Pakistan should not have any problem with any two nations wanting to improve their relations. He further added that in trying to counter Indian influence in Afghanistan Pakistan was getting adversarial towards Afghanistan, India, and the US, which, he argued, is not in the best interest of Pakistan.
“Pakistan should derive confidence out of its strategic location; India cannot replace Pakistan for Afghanistan,” said Gen. Masood. Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Saleem Haider argued that the US did not appreciate Pakistan’s role as its ally. He cautioned against taking a military action in North Waziristan against the HQN arguing that its fallout might be difficult for the nation to handle. Amb. B.A. Malik stressed improvement of Pakistan’s domestic situation as well as its relations with other countries in the region as a leverage for having better relations with the U.S. “Our Indophobia has led us into an unequal alliance with India, and we haven’t been able to get out of it,” said Amb. Malik.
John Hill, Deputy Political Counselor at the US Embassy, shared some details about United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) assistance to Pakistan over the past few years and stressed that the US wanted Pakistan to succeed as a responsible nation in the international community. He added that there was a convergence of interests between China and the US over Pakistan’s success as a nation state. He appreciated the progress of democracy in Pakistan.
John Bethel, Defence Attaché at the British High Commission, urged Pakistan to focus on the present and the future in its relations with the U.S. rather than dwelling upon the past mistakes in the relationship.
Other participants of the roundtable included Ashraf Azim, President IRS; Brig. (Retd) Bashir Ahmed, Senior Research Fellow; James Bangert, Political Officer at the US Embassy in Islamabad, and researchers from IRS and other think-tanks.