WASHINGTON - The United States has been encouraged by Pakistan’s economic turnaround over the past year and hopes for Pakistan-India progress after the Indian elections towards trade expansion.
Nisha Desai Biswal, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, said on Wednesday while outlining US vision for a prosperous region.
“We are encouraged by the economic progress that Pakistan has made in the past year, though it still faces many challenges ahead,” Biswal, who was speaking at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said.
“Now clearly the biggest constraint to boosting trade and energy flows is in addressing the barriers between India and Pakistan,” she noted.
“And an improved climate between Pakistan and its largest (South Asian) neighbour can pay enormous economic dividends.”
Calling for enhanced political stability and regional security in South Asia, the senior US official underscored the importance of Washington’s strategic partnership with India.
“Our security engagement with India is a central element of the broad US-India strategic partnership,” she said.
“That’s why we are committed to a partnership that includes a strong and influential India in the security realm,” Biswal, an Indian-American said, speaking on “US Foreign Policy in South Asia: A Vision for Prosperity and Security”.
India-Pakistan trade in 2013 was still a paltry $2.5 billion, she however noted.
“There’s no reason that number can’t quadruple in a few years’ time to $10 billion. We have heard some positive murmurings in Islamabad and Delhi that both governments are moving in this direction and we are hopeful that they will make progress after the Indian election.”
Biswal saw a time of great dynamism across South Asia, with elections and transitions that have been unfolding over the past year and concluding over the next few months.
“And while the transition in Afghanistan is the cause of much angst and anxiety, we are focused on the opportunities and imperative it creates for connecting the economies of South Asia and Central Asia.”
Through its New Silk Road vision, the US have been focusing our efforts in four key areas: Creating regional energy markets that link Central Asia with South Asia; boosting transportation routes and investing in critical infrastructure; improving customs and borders; and linking businesses and people.
“Afghanistan and its neighbors are now championing that New Silk Road vision themselves. The region is reducing barriers to trade, investing in each other’s economies, and supporting cross-border projects.
“From CASA-1000 – which will bring surplus hydropower form Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to Afghanistan and Pakistan – to TAPI – the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline – the United States is supporting the countries of the region as they build the economic and energy linkages that will transform their individual and collective economies.
“We have focused on easing the constraints to trade in this least connected part of the world. US technical assistance has helped reduce custom procedures by nearly half in Afghanistan, dramatically reducing border release times.”
Continuing, Biswal, the assistant secretary of state, said that the US-India partnership “can contribute to the stability of the Indian Ocean region”. “We remain committed to working with India as we develop a joint approach security in the Indo-Pacific.”
The US had also expanded its regional consultations with India to include South, Central, West, and East Asia and would soon hold new rounds of several of these dialogues, said the assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs.
“With a sixth round set for early June, the US-India-Japan trilateral dialogue has deepened our discussions on Indo-Pacific economic connectivity, maritime security, and coordination in multilateral fora,” she said.
“Our long-term geo-strategic convergence in this region with India has never been more apparent,” Biswal said.
Last year, she noted, US sent a senior-level representative to participate for the first time in the Indian Ocean Regional Association (IORA) as a dialogue partner.
“All told, we’d argue that almost nowhere do US-India interests currently converge as much as in the Indo-Pacific, the vast littoral arc stretching from South Africa to Australia,” Biswal said.
Turning to what she called “our path-breaking defence relationship”, she said spanning the last decade, the US has “made significant progress in helping India modernise its armed forces and in expanding joint exercises that enhance regional security”.
“Today, we are proud to have a growing track record of notable defence sales, including, most recently, the C-17 and C-130J transport aircraft, and the P-8I maritime surveillance aircraft,” she said.
Noting that there were “many more projects in the pipeline that will provide top-end equipment and capabilities to our Indian partners”, Biswal said US was “firmly committed to a stronger co-production and co-development relationship, meeting our collective security needs and reducing costs”.
A day earlier, Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States Jalil Abbas Jilani, speaking on “Pakistan-India Relations: The Way Ahead,” said there is a strong realization in South Asia on the imperative of an uninterrupted peace process. There is broad political consensus in Pakistan to promote regional cooperation as a path to peace and prosperity.
He explained the history of the relationship and the underlying issues that have shaped the events and policies in South Asia.
Noting the progress previously made in bilateral relations, Ambassador Jilani stated that both sides have had constructive discussions in the composite dialogue in the past years and were able to conclude a number of confidence building measures.
He said that South Asia cannot achieve its true economic potential unless Pakistan and India resolve their differences and make common cause against terrorism and poverty.
The ambassador further added that the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has articulated his vision of a peaceful neighbourhood and extended a hand of cooperation towards India in order to build durable peace.
He noted that settlement of issues including the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with international legality is of critical importance to establishing permanent peace.