Controversial call

Of all the challenges the new government faces on the foreign policy front, none will be as challenging as managing Pakistan’s fractured relationship with the US. Under President Donald Trump, the US has cut off almost all aid to Pakistan and constantly berated us for not taking action against the Afghan Taliban and Haqqani Network. The congratulatory phone call placed by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Prime Minister Imran Khan was an opportunity for the governments to get off on the right foot. Instead, the call has served only to highlight the deep divisions between the two countries. The statement by the US regarding the phone call claimed that Pompeo had asked Imran to take decisive action against terrorists based in Pakistan. But the Foreign Office claims there was no mention of terrorists at all and that the US needs to correct this misimpression. A US State Department spokesperson, however, says the US officially stands by its readout of the call.

It is difficult to judge anything in a he-said-he-said situation such as this. Given that the US has made Pakistan’s supposed support of the Afghan Taliban and Haqqani Network the reason for cutting off security assistance, it would not be too surprising if it broached the topic during the conversation. It is equally possible and certainly not beyond the realm of possibility that the Trump administration is deliberately trying to pick a fight with the new Pakistani government.

The controversy over this phone call is a microcosm of the mistrust that has poisoned relations between the two countries. Right now there is very little scope for cooperation, especially since the US has lost what leverage it had over Pakistan now that it no longer controls our purse strings. That does not mean the PTI government should write off the US as a lost cause. We can still work with the US to bring the Afghan government and the Taliban to the negotiating table for peace talks. The US also controls major international institutions like the IMF. Should Pakistan need to approach them for further bailouts – and it certainly looks like the country may eventually have to – it is important to have the US on our side. Pompeo has already expressed his opposition to IMF loans being used to pay off debt to China. A close working relationship could help make the US more flexible on such disagreements. During the election campaign, the PTI was often strident and unbending on its approach to foreign policy. Now that it is in power, it should realise that diplomacy is not quite so black-and-white and requires a considerable amount of give-and-take from both sides.