ISLAMABAD - Chairperson of the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs Sherry Rehman – a former Pakistan ambassador to the US - commenting on the bill that has originated in the US Senate about penalising and sanctioning countries both in Asia and specifically talked about Pakistan, said Pakistan was facing a moment of serious peril. She raised the challenge of multiple risks arising for Pakistan in a long speech on the actual US bill, what it could mean for the region, how policy is made, and why Pakistan is looking divided on its foreign policy.
“The United States has left Afghanistan with a deal it made directly with the Taliban and is now pressing Pakistan to take responsibility for all that is happening in Afghanistan. What is happening to Pakistan is actually worse than what has happened before. This bill directly targets Pakistan,” she said. Highlighting the new Afghanistan Counterterrorism, Oversight, and Accountability bill moved in the American Senate by 22 Republican senators, she said, “This bill will have serious implications for us, if it gathers momentum. It is not the US Administrations policy bill but it is important because it could gather critical mass and also points to a rise in toxic sentiments about Pakistan on the Hill, which many of us have worked very hard to reverse.”
Smart policy, she said, was about anticipating challenges and tackling them with unity and rational response. “At least let’s begin to address the threats. Section 202 of the bill directly mentions Pakistan and calls for an “assessment of support by state and non-state actors, including the government of Pakistan, for the Taliban between 2001 and 2020,” she added.
The senator continued: “They are clearly saying that the government of Pakistan has supported the Taliban but it’s disappointing to see that no one has actually put it to Parliament for shaping collective responses nor dispelled disinformation that is damaging and painful.”
The lawmaker said while it was important to engage with all countries with self respect, particularly angry superpowers like the US which itself is in turmoil over its 20 years occupation of Afghanistan, “what are we doing to empower our own selves? Instead of trying to unite the Parliament around a bipartisan foreign policy, the Parliament has never met on the Afghan transition, the humanitarian crisis there, and the response.”