The government’s claim that the parliamentary decision laying down conditions for allowing the Nato supplies to once again transit through Pakistan has been honoured is hardly justified. The facts speak differently. First, while of late Pakistani officials have been demanding, almost exclusively, an apology from Washington, Secretary of State Henry Clinton could deliver only a “soft” apology, which qualified ad such by the very slimmest of margins.
Secondly, Parliament had listed a complete end to drone strikes, an increasingly popular and controversial tool in the Obama arsenal as a major demand. As a violation of Pakistan’s territorial sovereignty as well as proving counterproductive to the very purpose for which they were launched, they are against Pakistan’s interests. To add insult to injury, as the Nato trucks began moving into Afghanistan, drone attacks sped up, struck three times at Dattakhel in North Waziristan’s Miranshah on Friday and killed 24 persons. Thirdly, Parliament had decided to charge a suitable sum of money from the Nato for the use of the long stretch of our roads. This was to be a legitimate levy because the heavy trucks with containers on board cause extensive damage to the road network and a tidy sum of money is needed for repairs. This point was not addressed either. And the most unfortunate part of the story is that the Pakistani officials were obliged to tell their public that the government had itself not pressed for the levy and willingly agreed not to charge any money as had been done ever since the Nato traffic started.
There is no doubt left now that stalling the issue of resumption of Nato supplies for seven long months has been of little avail to Pakistan. If the resolve to have the conditions met was so weak, the government should have confined itself to mere protest at the Salala check post massacre. The people’s hue and cry could have been ignored, as it is so often done when they voice grievances about the difficult conditions of their living. At least, Pakistan would have been able to avoid international humiliation. Secretary Clinton has told the media at Kabul where she made an unannounced visit that Pakistan has agreed not to allow its territory to be used against another country. In order words, it would be held accountable for any cross border raids from Pakistan. But there was no word about raids that have become ever more frequent from the Afghan side.