Message from the US

The arrival of US National Security Advisor Susan Rice could open up another chapter in Pakistan-US relations. Rice came in with a strong line for Pakistan’s political and military leadership – that Pakistan needs to curb the recent attacks in Afghanistan that are alleged to have been conducted from Pakistani territory. This line was delivered by the US security advisor as she delivered a confirmation of US President Barack Obama’s invitation to visit the White House in October. The meeting came at a critical time in relations between Pakistan and its two neighbours, Afghanistan and India. It appears that Rice’s coded warning to Pakistan was also related to the $300 million in military aid promised to the country. The US has continued to insist that Pakistan is not doing enough to combat the Haqqani Network. Rice is reported to have pushed all of those she met, including the PM, Chief of Army Staff Raheel Sharif and Adviser Sartaj Aziz, on the same agenda. The response from some members of the Pakistani establishment has been terse and there has been talk of ‘shared responsibility’.
While regional security is certainly a shared responsibility, someone needs to take the initiative. This is why the agreement between the US, China and Pakistan to continue the peace process with the Taliban is a good one. Pakistan has a critical role to play in stabilising Afghanistan – and vice versa. Placing the blame for Afghanistan’s situation squarely on Pakistan is hardly rational. The fallout of the death of Mullah Omar in the region is still fully revealing itself. Seven Taliban members were killed in in-fighting in the group in southern Afghanistan while the Afghan Taliban have now admitted that they withheld the information about Mullah Omar’s death for a long period in order to keep the group stronger. With recent news indicating that Isis has not been able to make any major inroads into Afghanistan, militancy in the country may now be dying a long-awaited death. Perhaps this context explains the pressure the US is putting on Pakistan, recognising that Afghanistan-based Taliban groups are no longer their biggest threat. However, the fact is that the Afghan Taliban remain a key stakeholder. And insisting that Pakistan both take action against the Haqqani Network and play the role of a facilitator in talks with the Taliban is untenable. Instead of the tit-for-tat blame game, Pakistani officials would have been better asking for clarity over which of the two options the US and the Afghan government are pursuing. Pakistan has a role in stabilising Afghanistan, but there is little clarity on what that role really is.