Imran holds key to honourable US exit from Afghanistan

LAHORE: The participants at a recent 91-minute long debate held under the aegis of the Washington DC-based Brookings Institute’s Center for Middle East Policy on “The first 100 days of Imran Khan’, had viewed that the sitting Pakistani premier held the key to an honourable American withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The panelists at the Brookings Institute, reiterated the United States should consider Premier Imran Khan as an opportunity to retreat honourably from Afghanistan, adding an American invitation for the Pakistani head of government might well be on the anvil. Here follow the pointers from the views of famous author Bruce Riedel, a former CIA official for 30 years and a renowned professor at the John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies:

The United States cannot get out of Afghanistan till Pakistan was part of the equation and hence Imran Khan was the United States’ ticket in this context. Bruce Riedel opined: Trump thinks Pakistan is an unsavoury partner of the United States.

The incumbent US president thinks two of his predecessors have dished out $33 billion and is very critical about continuous Pakistani support for the Taliban. Pakistan has been the biggest beneficiary of such training programmes, but now the Trump regime has stopped this initiative for the Pakistani officials. Of late, Trump has been pondering over finding ways to get out of Afghanistan, and has been discussing this issue with his current Secretary of Defense, General (R) Jim Mattis, and his Secretary of State Michael Pompeo. Trump wants to exit Afghanistan in a way that neither do the Taliban take over the war-ridden country after the US troops are withdrawn, nor does any civil war takes place there,” Bruce Riedel had maintained:

As far as Imran Khan is concerned, he comes across as one of the more anti-American Pakistani politicians. The US Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo, even visited Pakistan and discussed matters with the Pakistani Foreign Minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who is certainly a skillful diplomat. Stories from Pakistani Press reveal Imran Khan toured Saudi Arabia twice after taking over and asked for US$4 billion. He got nothing on his first tour, but then dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder took place and Muhammad bin Salman found himself short of friends. Imran Khan thus succeeded in bagging $6 billion instead. The Chinese need Imran Khan and the United States might soon be knocking at his door too! President Obama did not have a Pakistan policy. Donald Trump’s nasty tweets cannot change Pakistan’s policy on Afghanistan and the Taliban.

Meanwhile, Madiha Afzal, a fellow at the Brookings Institution and author of book “Pakistan under siege,” said for over 15 years, the Pakistani public thought Imran Khan was politically naïve. In political arena, he was not treated with great respect by his compatriots. Imran ran an anti-corruption campaign and provided social services in health and education through his philanthropic organisations. After assuming charge as country’s Prime Minister, he talked about issues like malnutrition among kids, and maternal health care etc. He enjoys support of pro-establishment quarters. Imran has had tough 100 days in office. He had to deal with a lot of mess.

Imran’s government has now certainly matured and come of age. He wants to stabilize the debt-ridden economy, grossly mismanaged by his predecessors, and had to undertake tours to Saudi Arabia, UAE and China etc to seek financial support to avert a looming Balance of Payments crisis. The CPEC had certainly made the country’s debt surge. It is unclear as to what truly transpired in China, but Imran has pledged he will go to the IMF for the last-ever bailout package. He has promised 10 million jobs and five million homes for his countrymen, but for that, revenues are needed and money can only be generated through tax reforms. He has got pro-Establishment technocrats assisting him on this, besides enjoying expert services from professors at Harvard and Stanford universities. I am not sure if these technocrats will deliver. As far as the civil-military relationship in Pakistan is concerned, it seems a deal has been struck between the two vital organs of state.

While Imran Khan will look after domestic affairs, the establishment will manage national security and foreign policy both. The Imran Khan-led government and the establishment thus seem to be on the same page as of now. Imran did talk about peace with India in his post-election speech, but he might not push the establishment on this issue.

Another important issue is that radical and fundamentalist elements are marching on the Pakistani streets. Although the Taliban have been decimated, these religious groups on street pose a great challenge. After a brave Pakistan Supreme Court decision to set free a female Christian blasphemy accused, Aasia Bibi, Premier Imran Khan had defended the verdict of the arbiters. The Pakistani premier is now cracking down against the radical elements that had resorted to streets and reacted violently to the apex court’s verdict. The Pakistani population and the government both want an earliest end to the bloody Afghan conflict. They want a complete withdrawal of US troops from the Afghan soil.