A number of unresolved issues and scores of pressing problems the federal government is beset with leaves one utterly befuddled. Take one of them: inflation. Can you bring prices down with so many economic compulsions to contend with. Shahbaz Sharif sought to lower rates of commodities of common use through administrative measures across Punjab but will he succeed? Can market be managed by official fiat alone? There are so many loose ends which have yet to be sorted out.
Sloppy handling of such challenging problems provide grist to the mill of PTI and Tahir-ul-Qadri. Shortage of natural gas is hitting industry and jobs hard. Gas–run vehicles have already ground to a halt. Supply to the domestic sector is disrupted too frequently. Though Iran–Pakistan pipeline is one solution, no one knows if it will ever become a reality. With Tehran indicating it cannot provide finances, where will the funds come from? Can the US be persuaded to relent and not impose sanctions now that Iran–US relations have taken a turn for the better?
Meanwhile, PTI has stopped NATO supplies to Afghanistan. The federal government does not approve of it but little is being done to iron out the differences. With both the sides hanging fire, considerable ramifications are staring the country in the face.
We have yet to have the details of the national security policy although it appears a new mechanism has been worked out. But the initiative seems to favour a dialogue with the Taliban. There is, hence, no visible movement indicating any start of the talks. Previously, the decision to begin negotiations with TTP failed to yield results because of the inordinate delay by the government and a drone strike. The menace of terrorism and the recent provocative killings by the Taliban and the retaliatory attacks of the military, using artillery and gunships in North Waziristan causing civilian casualties is no laughing matter. Where are we heading? If talks are the first option, merely talking about it will lead us nowhere. A no-nonsense strategy is still missing. Obviously, speed is of essence.
Another front where the federal government seems to be making some headway is friendly relations with India. Our Prime Minister pursued the goal of meeting his Indian counterpart who keeps saying he is not interested in visiting Pakistan.
While the two premiers did meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, all that Nawaz could secure was a promise of a meeting of the two DGMOs to diffuse the situation on the Line of Control. For more than three months, there was no response from New Delhi, to follow this decision, despite reminders. The other thing Nawaz received was Manmohan Singh’s fulminations against Pakistan for harbouring terrorism. He said that there could be no resumption of talks between the two countries unless cross-border terrorism was brought to an end. It is therefore quite a surprise that, out of the blue, a meeting has recently been held by the two DGMOs. The senior officers of the Pakistan Rangers and the Border Security Force met raising prospect of peace along the LoC.
Yet in the middle of all this, Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid’s statement is astonishing. He said, that “there is no alternate option than dialogue with Pakistan because in both situations of war or peace they will remain neighbours… and dialogue should be continued at every level”.
While observing that democratic governments follow the way of negotiations, he did add that bilateral conflicts between the two countries could not be resolved overnight. “So we have to move forward in phases”, he remarked.
How to explain this almost sudden change of mind? One explanation is that it has something to do with Shahbaz Sharif’s recent visit to India where he also called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Another explanation may ascribe it to goading on the part of US. While these two factors may have contributed towards bringing about a change in India’s mood, the real reason probably is what a CNN –IBN editor, Suhasini Haidar has propounded in a lengthy article published in The Hindu on December 25, under the caption Dangerous Disengagement. It is “time to recognise”, writes Haidar, “that India’s leverage has been considerably reduced amongst policymakers in Pakistan, due in part to the lack of bilateral contact between the two….By putting off bilateral dialogue, South Bloc is missing the opportunity to engage with the changing reality of Pakistan’s power structure”.
Reverting to my earlier proposition that this government is surrounded by multiple crisis, which includes criticism from Media, and hence under the sense of confusion makes awkward decisions. And sometimes, it suffers because it does not take decisions speedily enough, thus attracting criticism that is partially avoidable. This has been particularly noticeable in regards to crucial appointments and such lapses as the prime minister’s deliberate absence from the parliamentary sessions. However busy the prime minister may be, he certainly is to blame if he does not find time to attend National Assembly and Senate meetings, at least once a week. It would help the government if complex national questions pertaining to the economy and foreign affairs are discussed periodically in the parliamentary committees and in the two houses of the parliament.
Another gap in the governments’ approach towards solving country’s problems is lack of think-tanks and creative brains who could come up with recommendations backed by data as well as analysis of the fallout of various recommended options. However, intelligent and knowledgeable the members of the cabinet and party stalwarts might be, vital national decisions just cannot be entirely left to be taken by them in this hugely complex, intertwined and fast–moving world without advice from highly specialized experts.

n    The writer is an ex-federal secretary and ambassador, and a freelance political and international relations analyst