Sponsoring peace and reconciliation

The writer is an analyst and
commentator.

Two weeks ago, when Saudi Arabia cut off diplomatic relations with Iran, I used this space to appeal for Pakistan to play a proactive leadership role in helping these two important countries resolve their differences.         

It isn’t every day that one gets to find stories in the newspaper that conform exactly to what one imagines to be an ideal public policy response to an international crisis. On January 18 and January 19, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif will visit Riyadh and Tehran to try to help dial down temperatures and reduce the vitriol on both sides. I have rarely been prouder to be Pakistani. And I suspect I am not alone.

Pakistanis can be very proud of the conduct of Pakistanis from all spheres of life on the issue of Iran-Saudi Arabia tensions. From politicians, like Shireen Mazari – who made sure parliament discussed the crisis – to the news talk show hosts that were relentless in their critique of the initially mixed messages emanating from government. Visionary leaders and brave generals are a product of vibrant democracies. Full credit is due to PM Sharif for being the leader that so many Pakistanis wanted in this moment.

It is a moment to savour. Pakistanis are witnessing, with this peacemaking trip, the first rays of the dawn of Pakistan’s promise as a state sponsor of cross-border peace, harmony and reconciliation. There are several reasons why Pakistanis should take great pride in this moment and the promise it holds.      

The first is that when a country’s leadership demonstrates the vision and boldness that a situation demands, it is important for the people to acknowledge it. In democracies, good behaviour needs to be reinforced, just as much as bad behaviour needs to be punished. The initial reaction of the armed forces to the APS attack in Peshawar was able to be sustained over the course of a year, largely because with every major push into the badlands, from Fata to Karachi, public opinion responded with enthusiasm. PM Sharif, in partnership with the COAS, has done something remarkable by resisting the allure of partisanship with respect to Iran and Saudi Arabia, and he deserves our unmitigated support for his Riyadh-Tehran diplomacy.    

The second is that playing the role of a peacemaker and reconciler is much less expensive to play than the role of regional spoiler. Pakistan never intended to end up becoming the bad guy in the post-9/11 world order, but that is exactly what it became. The reputational damage that Pakistan has endured is immeasurable – as was evident in an acerbic piece that Dexter Filkins wrote for The New Yorker over the weekend. In it, instead of welcoming Pakistan’s extraordinary statements and actions following the Pathankot attacks in India, he makes the case that Pakistan’s intelligence community is essentially, both inherently irrational, and innately evil. He uses a series of tenuous facts to make his case.

Pakistani protestations, however, are largely useless. After serving in New Delhi and Iraq earlier in his career, Filkins won every award under the sun for his coverage of the Isaf/Nato war in Afghanistan. If you were a Western journalist covering Afghanistan between 2003 and 2012, whether you were based in Kabul, New Delhi or Islamabad, you had one thing in common: a robust contempt for the Pakistani state, and in particular the Pakistani intelligence community.

What does all this mean? It means that in January 2016, Pakistan continues to reap the poison from the troubles sown more than a decade ago in Afghanistan. The arc of a bad reputation is long and enduring; it keeps catching up to you, again, and again, and again. Yet, the more that Pakistan reacts responsibly and maturely, as it has thus far in the Pathankot case, the further and further our country will be able to leave the bitterness of the past in the rear view mirror. Filkins didn’t win awards by ignoring the evidence, and once we build enough evidence to win over observers like Filkins, they will no longer be able to bank exclusively on the saltiness of the Pakistan they remember.

Playing the role of peacemaker between Saudi Arabia and Iran is exactly the kind of responsible and mature behaviour that Pakistan can point to, as evidence of a bold, fresh new consciousness about its importance as a source of peace and harmony.

The third reason Pakistanis should be very proud of the prime minister, and indeed, the army chief, is that when Pakistan plays the role of reconciler in the Persian Gulf, it is creating the precedent to play that same role in other places, especially much closer to home. This is immensely good news for those of us who believe that Pakistan must more confidently and more assertively help bring our Afghan brothers and sisters together to help resolve the decades-old violence in that country. Pakistan enjoys more influence over the Afghan Taliban than any other country, though many of us rightly argue that this quantum of influence doesn’t amount to a whole lot, given the free reign that so many violent actors have enjoyed within our borders.

Sadly, allowing a bunch of thugs to set up shop and develop deep and abiding roots in our society is not anybody else’s fault – though there is little doubt that Pakistan’s enemies, near and far, leave no opportunity to take advantage of our self-inflicted weaknesses and vulnerabilities. Luckily, the two men in Kabul that are in-charge, President Ashraf Ghani and CEO Abdullah Abdullah, have chosen a different path than the ornery belligerence that former president Karzai had opted for with Pakistan. InshaAllah, once PM Sharif returns from his peacemaking mission in Riyadh and Tehran, with some success, he will represent a much strengthened Pakistani state.

The Afghan Taliban will need to come to terms with the fact that this is no longer Mullah Omar and General Musharraf’s Pakistan, which flinches easily and can be cowed into certain behaviours on the back of the threat of upsetting non-state actors. A Pakistan that isn’t scared to speak truthfully to its friends, like Saudi Arabia and Iran, and isn’t scared of facing the truth about incidents like Pathankot is a Pakistan that is also not going to be bullied by non-state actors.

In the short term, this should serve to speed up and strengthen Pakistan’s efforts to ensure that all Afghans can sit together and resolve their issues through dialogue. Ultimately, the Afghan Taliban need to know that Pakistan’s destiny is as a peacemaker and reconciler – and those actors that do not align with this destiny will eventually be left no quarter in this country.       

Hardened realists will be turned off by descriptions of Pakistan as a ‘peacemaker’ and ‘reconciler’. They shouldn’t be. General Zia and General Musharraf left no stone unturned in having Pakistan try the opposite. And look where that got us.

Today, as Pakistan changes course, positioning itself as a peacemaker and reconciler has already yielded a mammoth, and potentially transformational, investment from China that we know commonly as the CPEC. It is no accident that President Xi Jinping will be in Riyadh and Tehran right after PM Sharif. There is economic growth in peacemaking and reconciling. And there is national strength and dignity in economic growth. It is no accident.

PM Sharif and COAS Sharif should be welcomed back with the adulation we reserve for visionary leadership, and a reminder that the path to national strength and dignity has only just begun. There is still much to do, and Pakistan does not have the luxury of admiring its shots. But after many years, we shouldn’t feel too guilty if we do indulge, if only for a fleeting moment.