CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts - Pakistan’s massive military operation aimed at rooting out terrorism is in its ‘final phase’, but the problem is not going to just go away unless there is peace on the other side of the border in strife-torn Afghanistan, Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi has said during a talk at Harvard University.
“I think we have beaten back the forces, the dark forces of terrorism,” the Pakistani envoy told students and faculty members at the Kennedy School during a talk on “Conversations in Diplomacy”.
“We will defeat them (the terrorists) eventually - it’s still work in progress - but I do think that we have come a long way,” she said about Zarb-e-Azb, the largest anti-terrorism operations anywhere in the world.
In the course of her conversation, Ambassador Lodhi discussed peace and security issues and dynamics related to the region and beyond as well as Pakistan’s role at the United Nations. She also highlighted the relationship between the United States and Pakistan in the past and looking forward.
Dealing with what she called the “multi-dimensional threat of terrorism,” the Pakistani envoy said law, military measures needed to be complemented by countering the terrorists’ method of exploiting fears and grievances to lure followers into their fold.
“One lesson we learnt over the past decade and a half is that because we are dealing with the multi-dimensional threat we also need a tool kit which is multi- focused and multi-dimensional equally, and for that reason the kinetic part of what we need to do. “Law enforcement is an important dimension but so is evolving counter narrative to the men of violence who use certain kinds of appeals to young and impressionable minds.”
Progress had been made in implementing Pakistan’s National Action Plan, she said, adding, “What we are trying to do in Pakistan to address (the threat of terrorism), I have to say we are in much better place today than we were, let’s say, six years ago or eight years ago.”
Setting the regional situation in context, Ambassador Lodhi said the security challenge in the region has been of many prolonged conflicts - Afghanistan has been in a state of conflict for three and a half decades, while on the other side the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan remains unresolved.
“We in Pakistan call it (the Kashmir problem) the unfinished business of partition - so you know this is an area which has seen tensions, conflict and war and along with that comes the security challenges that my country confronts today,” the ambassador told the gathering. Across the world, she said, countries like the United States, Pakistan or others in the Middle East were confronted with ISIS, having to deal with both internal and external dimension.
About US-Pakistan ties, Lodhi, a former ambassador in Washington, gave background of the relationship that has often seen ups and downs, and said she was pleased to see the relations were broadening across many sectors instead of remaining anchored on security cooperation.
“I think the trajectory of US-Pakistan relations is now much more stable and more forward looking as we deal with some of the developments and security challenges of our times.”
Ambassador Lodhi briefed the audience on Pakistan’s active role at the United Nations that had earned great respect for the country.
“We work, of course, with other countries which have similar views and you know United Nations is an amazing place because the dynamic there is cooperative, it’s not competitive,” she said. “In fact, no country, however, powerful or, however, small can do anything at the United Nations on their own. Multilateral diplomacy teaches you something very fundamental about diplomacy itself which is unless you cooperate with others and align your interest with the interest of other countries, you are not going to achieve any of your own national goals either.
“But whatever it is, Pakistan is in the forefront with the other developing countries and also on the intensely political issues as a member of the Security Council several times,” the ambassador said. “Pakistan played a key role in shaping some of the norms that emerged on peacekeeping as well as peace and security issues,” she said amid applause.