Future of Pakistan-US ties hazy
It is imperative for the relationship to remain intact as any rupture will only benefit the militants
By Farhan Bokhari, Special to Gulf News


The latest spat between the United States and Pakistan over a shared airbase in south western Pakistan says much about the overall tenor of the relationship between the two countries or rather supposedly two close allies.
In response to a public announcement by Pakistan's Defence Minister Ahmad Mukhtar seeking the US to vacate the Shamsi airbase in the province of Balochistan, unnamed US officials in Washington have been quoted in news agency dispatches as refusing to go along with Islamabad's call.
Ultimately, will a showdown take place? The answer to that pivotal question may provide a sense of the way forward, away from the impasse which currently surrounds US ties with Pakistan.
As of now, it is impossible to foretell the future turn of events. But going by the past, it is likely that this spat will once again conclude as before without a conclusive assurance against future disputes.
Ultimately once again, both sides will remain on board with each other, without learning to sort out their differences once and for all. Some have called the US-Pakistan relationship ‘a sequence of love and hate' while for others it marks ‘an embrace where both the US and Pakistan have also learnt to stab each other'. There is no simple way to explain exactly why US-Pakistan ties have become embroiled in a series of unending and recurring disputes. While the two countries are supposedly friends and allies, they also struggle to keep their relationship intact.
Coming a decade after the New York terrorist attacks catapulted the United States and Pakistan into a strategic embrace, the signs for the way forward may not necessarily be promising. But the strategic compulsions surrounding the Afghanistan-Pakistan region which also tie the US and Pakistan together, are much too overwhelming to be easily ignored.
There are at least three elements in this relationship which bind the US and Pakistan together.
First, the unending fight against militants notably representing Al Qaida and the Taliban will continue to be a dominant feature of the Afghanistan-Pakistan region in the foreseeable future. This development presents major challenges to the security interests of the US, Pakistan and Afghanistan. In this background, it is imperative for the US-Pakistan relationship to remain intact as any significant rupture on this front will only benefit the militants.
Tackling militant trends
Second, while the killing of Osama Bin Laden on May 2 was a watershed for the US in its efforts against militants, the reality is indeed that this event alone will not mark an end to the fight against militancy. Indeed, Al Qaida has gone on to appoint Ayman Al Zawahiri as Bin Laden's successor, underlining the groups' determination to fight. This fight goes well beyond Afghanistan and Pakistan and now surrounds places like Yemen. While US-Pakistan cooperation has been built mainly around Afghanistan and Pakistan, there is scope to expand this relationship to other frontiers. Pakistan has an elaborate capacity of intelligence gathering from its surrounding region and can therefore play a role in support of a wider US goal of defeating Al Qaida.
Finally, the fight to defeat militancy has many different facets. The upfront fight against militant groups is just one of those features. Other important aspects of this challenge include the need to tackle militant trends in society, using a combination of economic, administrative and eventually political policies. Much work needs to be done in Pakistan on each of these fronts.
Pakistan's present day rulers have often claimed to set the pace for a more prosperous future but have done little by way of tangible action. The time has now come for the country to change that approach. A third of Pakistan's population of 180 million is believed to exist under the poverty line which makes it essential for their plight to be immediately considered through a variety of tough measures. There is an intrinsic link between militancy and societal trends. It is vital to appreciate that link in order to set in motion a variety of measures to deal with this challenge.
Eventually, the stakes are high for both Pakistan and the US in tackling the many issues which surround Pakistan. But in the ultimate analysis, the responsibility lies with Pakistan to deal with its own challenges. For the US however, it is important to understand that an unstable Pakistan will not be in anyone's interest.

Farhan Bokhari is a Pakistan-based commentator who writes on political and economic matters.

Source gulfnews : Future of Pakistan-US ties hazy