A clear line

Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif, speaking at the Asia Society in New York, delivered some home truths to the US. He reminded the US that the only reason Pakistan faces a terrorism problem today is because we joined its proxy war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. The Haqqani Network, which Pakistan is now blamed for sheltering, was once an integral part of the US-funded mujahideen. Asif’s retelling of this history is important because the US tends to be ahistorical, changing its priorities and loyalties on a dime. At the same time, Asif did not deny that Pakistan needs to defeat all militant groups. He specifically named Hafeez Saeed and Lashkar-e-Taiba as a liability and said Pakistan needs time to be rid of them. It was this statement – which needs to be appreciated – that seems to have caused the most consternation at home, with Imran Khan accusing him and the government of being sell-outs to the US and India.

This criticism is extremely unfair. It is disturbing that, instead of being united in facing down this common threat, some in the opposition chose to take a rather regressive approach to the FM’s views on past security policies pursued by the state. India and the US may have a particular vendetta against Hafiz Saeed but that does not mean his brand of militancy poses no threat to Pakistan. Going against all militants and putting our own house in order, as Asif had earlier said, is essential to making Pakistan safe. Pakistan has been waging a long, hard and bloody struggle against terrorism. That is not under debate; what can be – and must be – analysed and discussed by policymakers and institutional stakeholders is where we went wrong in our security policies and what we need to do ensure we are using the right mix of counterterrorism strategies. On that, Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif has been refreshingly forthcoming.

On India, Asif spoke of Pakistan’s openness for dialogue but pointed out that peace was unlikely given Indian actions on the Line of Control, its crimes in Kashmir and the targeting of minorities by the government. However, Asif is unlikely to be able to get the US to pressure India. Defence Secretary James Mattis’ India trip concluded with the two governments agreeing that India needs to play a larger role in Afghanistan. That the Taliban then attempted to launch rockets at the airport in Kabul and issued a statement saying the target was Mattis will only strengthen the hand of war hawks. The attack makes it more likely that the US will send more troops and rely more on India for help in Afghanistan while Asif’s advice at the Asia Society that a political solution is needed will be ignored. For now, though, what the foreign minister has asked for is for the US to stop scapegoating Pakistan for its failures in Afghanistan. As he pointed out in an interview with the BBC after the controversy caused by his statements, the Afghan Taliban now control so much territory in Afghanistan they have no need to seek safe havens in Afghanistan. Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif has tried to make his case as forcefully as he could both regarding American policy on Afghanistan and Pakistan’s own policies at home; whether anyone in the Trump administration – or back home – is willing to listen is another matter altogether.