French nuclear ‘offer’
Monday, 18 May, 2009
ACCORDING to Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, France has offered a civilian nuclear technology deal to Pakistan on the same lines as the US-India agreement signed earlier. This announcement is bound to create a lot of excitement not just in Pakistan but also in countries that have strong reservations about Pakistan’s nuclear programme. Before discussing the implications of the deal, it is important to point out that there has been no announcement from the French government’s side on this issue so far. Exactly what has been offered and on what terms, is not known. However, there are reports that an official from Mr Nicolas Sarkozy’s office observed that the French president had confirmed his willingness to “cooperate with Pakistan in the area of nuclear safety”. In the light of this, it appears that the Pakistan government is counting its chickens before they’ve hatched. The major concern of the nuclear powers at the moment is the security of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal and how it can be safeguarded from falling into the hands of militants. This contingency has been debated in strategic circles and evidently came up in Paris as well prompting Mr Qureshi to assure the world that Pakistan is a “responsible nuclear power” that can handle the safety of its nuclear arsenal and proliferation concerns.
Be that as it may, an agreement with France has very far-reaching implications for Pakistan’s relations with Paris as well as a number of other countries. Before India tested its nuclear capability in 1974 and Pakistan embarked on its quest for the bomb, Islamabad’s nuclear programme enjoyed the support of many foreign powers. In 1976, France had even signed a deal to supply a reprocessing plant to Pakistan, which was subsequently torpedoed when then American national security adviser Henry Kissinger entered the scene threatening to make a “horrible example” out of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Thereafter nothing has been the same again. Pakistan turned to clandestine sources and allies like China for nuclear supplies until it managed to develop nuclear capability indigenously and detonate a bomb in 1998 following in India’s footsteps.
If France has now agreed on a deal as the one the US has entered into with India, this amounts to a radical change in the international politics of nuclear proliferation that has a direct bearing on Pakistan. It will be a diplomatic coup of sorts on Mr Zardari’s part if France as well as the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group that has imposed an embargo on Islamabad actually agree to reverse their stance. This will enhance Pakistan’s nuclear credibility by indicating that it can be trusted. A key element in the Indo-American deal is the provision for monitoring 14 civilian reactors by IAEA inspectors, a moratorium on nuclear testing and safeguards to ensure the security of nuclear arms. Would Pakistan agree to these terms?
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Balochistan and the centre
Monday, 18 May, 2009
TRUE, the government has much on its plate but that cannot be an excuse for ignoring issues that need to be addressed urgently. The past week has seen at least four statements by senior politicians regarding the situation that has been festering in Balochistan for decades. Last Monday, the Balochistan Assembly speaker spoke of a “trust deficit” between the provincial leadership and the government in Islamabad. This lack of faith, he said, was a major impediment in the way of restoring peace in Balochistan and normalising province-centre relations. He added that many among the Baloch are of the view that the Frontier Corps is running a “parallel government” in the province. The same day, an influential Baloch nationalist leader accused Islamabad of hypocrisy and failing to honour its commitments. On Tuesday, the chairman of the parliamentary committee on national security urged the prime minister to hold talks with Baloch leaders without further delay. The veteran PPP politician from Karachi also shared 15 recommendations which he felt made “a good basis for initiating a dialogue with angry Baloch leaders”. And on Friday, a key senator from Balochistan again brought up the trust-deficit issue, asking the centre to hold talks with both Baloch nationalists and separatists.
Islamabad does indeed have a lot to answer for. The sense of alienation and deprivation that is part and parcel of the Baloch psyche took root soon after the creation of Pakistan. Since then Balochistan has seen its natural resources stripped by the centre without a hint of shame. What could arguably have been the most prosperous province in the country is today its most backward. It has suffered ruthless military operations and seen its people tortured, killed or ‘disappeared’. In recent years, successive governments found it fit to negotiate with Taliban barbarians but did little to bring the Baloch nationalists on board and address their genuine grievances. Apologies for past atrocities committed against the Baloch ring hollow when words are not matched by actions. Development packages become meaningless if they are not delivered forthwith. Promises of provincial autonomy find few takers when months go by without even a hint of their implementation. It was in March 2008 that the prime minister pledged that the concurrent legislative list would be scrapped within a year, thereby giving the provinces greater control over their own resources. Nearly 14 months later there has been no real movement on this count. When will the centre wake up?
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Capital rent law
Monday, 18 May, 2009
THE recent detention of 42 traders in Islamabad on anti-terrorism charges and the consequent traders’ strike in the city underscores the necessity of rent law reform in the federal capital to provide a level playing field to trader tenants and landlords. The punishment was deemed too harsh by traders who had been protesting against the 30-day jail sentence of a fellow trader. The latter had filed a case against what he saw as an unrealistic rent increase by the owner of his shop. An eviction noticed was served which he refused to obey. The underlying tensions, however, are a result of opposition to the existing rent laws, in particular the Islamabad Rent Restriction Ordinance 2001. At a 2006 forum, participants had unanimously condemned the IRRO — with one high court advocate terming it a black law for tenants — and called for its repeal or amendment. Since last year, there have been reports about a ‘soon-to-be-promulgated’ new rent law for Islamabad. Last month, fed up apparently with the non-materialisation of the new rent law, traders started to take a stance against forced evictions by going on strike: traders in two major markets observed shutter-down strikes against forced evictions in April.
The apparent delay in the promulgation of a new rent law is not surprising. There are difficulties in ensuring that a new law will protect and enforce the rights of both tenant and landlord. While it is the right of the tenant to be protected from inflated rents and summary evictions, it is also the right of the landlord to be provided a fair rent and to be compensated for damage to property, illegal subletting, default in consecutive rents or for other reasons. In addition to the views of trader tenants in shops and commercial buildings, the voice of tenants in houses and other residential buildings has also to be taken into consideration in preparing the new rent law. To discourage abuse, corruption and complicated litigation, any new rent law should provide for a transparent rent-control scheme or formula that is clear and easy to implement and enforce.
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OTHER VOICES - North American Press New commander for Afghanistan
Monday, 18 May, 2009
THE war in Afghanistan is not going well. And President Obama has the right to choose his own top commander. We hope that his decision … to fire Gen David McKiernan and replace him with Lt Gen Stanley McChrystal means that the president and his team have come up with a strategy that will combine aggressive counter-insurgency tactics with economic development.
… We also hope that Gen McChrystal … will do a better job at limiting the number of civilian casualties that are helping to drive more Afghans into the Taliban camp.
The New Times
… Gen McChrystal, a hard-driving and talented officer, impressed his superiors during his five years running Special Operations commando missions in Afghanistan and Iraq. That’s a strong résumé. But other qualities are needed as well.
Success in Afghanistan will also require effective training for the Afghan Army and police forces so they can stand on their own, strengthened local institutions and an effort to rein in the officially condoned corruption and drug trafficking that have turned so many Afghans against their own national and local governments. And it will require skilful diplomacy with other Nato generals to ensure the best use of tens of thousands of allied troops in Afghanistan and with Pakistani military leaders who must do a lot more to deny cross-border sanctuaries and infiltration routes to Taliban fighters.
Gen McKiernan does not deserve the blame for the dismal military situation in Afghanistan. The Taliban had been gaining ground long before he took charge, in large measure because the Bush administration — focused on its misguided war in Iraq — failed for so many years to invest adequate troops, resources or attention [in] the Afghan fight. … — (May 14)