Afghanistan, Pakistan and USA.
The two reports in your last issue (India Abroad,July 13), US
dependence on Pakistan exposed and Last tango in Afghanistan, reveal
how US and the NATO find it difficult to withdraw from the quagmire of
Afghanistan without pandering to the wishes of Pakistan.
Pakistan wants to have a regime in Afghanistan which dances to its
tune as it wrongly believes that this would give it a 'strategic
depth' in its conflict with India (though this concept has become
irrelevant in the context of atomic weapons with both countries) while
US and its allies want to promote a independent democratic polity. The
present predicament of US is the result of its policy of using
Pakistan and jehadis of Al Queda to defeat the Soviet Union in
Afghanistan. It is during this period that Pakistan developed nuclear
weapons and built the taliban.
Pakistan is not a normal state and to function as a normal state
Pakistanis need a new narrative from their leaders, observes Ahmed
Rashid, a veteran journalist of Pakistan, in his book, Pakistan on the
brink : The future of America, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. He says the
military defines the Pakistani identity in terms of permanent
resistance to India.It uses jehadi groups in addition to diplomacy and
trade to pursue its defence and foreign policies.There is no coherent
national identity capable of uniting the nation. The taliban, which
was promoted by the army and the ISI, is now turning against it. There
were two attacks already on the military - one on Army General HQ in
October, 2007 killing 14 officers and civilians, and the other on
Mehran Naval Base in May,2011.
All that one can say is that you reap what you sow - in both cases.
Now, what is the way out as far as Afghanistan is concerned. The UN
has to bring all the major powers of the world and the neighboring
countries of Afghanistan together and provide the country with
guarantees of territorial integrity, support for economic development
and democratic functioning.
July 12,2012.
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