Pakistan needs international help to curb militancy
 

[B]By Farhan Bokhari[/B], [I][U]Farhan Bokhari is a Pakistan-based commentator who writes on political and economic matters[/U][/I]

Friday's devastating attack on a mosque in Pakistan's remote Darra Adam Khel region near the border with Afghanistan comes as a powerful reminder of the continuing challenge of terrorism faced by the South Asian country.

The attack came ahead of US President Barack Obama's arrival in India's commercial city of Mumbai, two years after devastating attacks by militants — which Delhi claims were based in Pakistan — shattered the sense of security in India's commercial heartland. Taken together, the two attacks are part of a common legacy of militancy that is threatening to overwhelm mainstream life and impose the rule of the gun in contrast to the rule of the law.

Obama's hosts will likely use the opportunity of his visit to remind him of Pakistan's continuing links with terrorism, amid the scars left from the 2008 attacks on Mumbai. There is a danger that the high-profile US visit to India will harden Washington's sentiment against Pakistan. However, the reality is far from the perception and this fact needs to be appreciated.

Friday's attack amply demonstrated the extent to which Pakistan has become a victim of the same breed of terrorism that targeted innocent citizens in Mumbai. Terrorists have neither a nationality nor a legitimate cause. The use of violence targeting innocent civilians is an act that can never be condoned.

[B]Significant sacrifice[/B]

While Pakistan needs to take tangible steps to curb militancy, it is also vital to appreciate the sacrifices already made across the country, as thousands of its citizens have died either in targeted attacks by militants or while fighting militants. The effect of the war on terror has simply been devastating for Pakistan's political, economic and strategic outlook. The fallout from this campaign will hang over Pakistan for years to come.

The international community must partner with Pakistan to curb militancy by taking three interrelated steps.

First, Pakistan's legitimate requirements need to be appreciated and understood. Unless Pakistan is assisted by the international community, it is difficult to understand how it will be able to tackle one of the biggest challenges historically faced by a country.

In the recent past, Pakistan has renewed its call for countries such as the US to expedite contributions to the coalition support fund — set up to assist Pakistan in its fight against militants. Considerable delays in that process have overly burdened Pakistan's already fragile finances and forced the country to become even more indebted.

Deliveries of badly needed military hardware have also been slower than expected, while the US has simply turned down Islamabad's requests for hardware such as pilot-less drones, which it uses to target suspected militant safe havens along the border with Afghanistan. If Pakistan was to acquire ownership of this hardware, it would then be able to paint their use as a domestic initiative, rather than a much-criticised US one.

[B]Systematic reform[/B]

Second, it is important to lead Pakistan along the path to reform. However, such an effort needs to be carefully calibrated and aligned with Pakistan's own circumstances, history and future outlook. This year, western leaders — notably including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — have increasingly and publicly urged Pakistan to reform its badly dilapidated tax-collection system.

The message is genuine but the timing may not necessarily be opportune. The malaise affecting Pakistan's tax-collection system is chronic in nature. Any effort to fast-track reform will simply not succeed. Though Pakistan's economic conditions are dire, the international community needs to come together and work with the country to address many of its shortcomings according to a realistic schedule. Seeking a fast-track solution to a fundamental, chronic problem will simply not be in the best interests of either Pakistan or the international community.

Finally, there must be a far more active international effort to resolve the root cause of militancy in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, which is the long-term dispute over the issue of Kashmir. The state, whose ownership is disputed between Pakistan and India, is both at the centre of past conflicts and a potential cause of future ones between the world's two newest nuclear powers. Only a resolution to this source of disagreement will make possible an enduring solution to one of the world's most challenging conflicts.