Author: PTI
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: May 6, 2011
URL: http://www.dailypioneer.com/336784/Paks-India-obsession-absurd-US-lawmakers.html
Top US lawmakers and experts have asked Pakistan
to come out of its India-centric mindset which they argued is nothing but
destructive for it, a day after Islamabad resorted to rhetoric against New
Delhi.
"Pakistan's strategic view and posture
vis-a-vis India is, at least in this senator's judgment, and I think for many
people who so talk about it is absurd in this modern context," Senator
John Kerry, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said at a
Congressional hearing.
"Both nuclear nations, both with much
bigger interests that would take them, under good reasoning, to, you know,
a very different conclusion, but there just seems to be a kind of, you know,
automatic historical, cultural desire to keep focusing on India.
"And it is depleting their ability to
focus on their own economy, on their own needs, to learn that they have increased
their nuclear arsenal, when, by most people's judgment, they already had a
bigger one than India and an absolutely adequate capacity to deter as well
as to destroy within the region simply doesn't make sense," Kerry said
at the first of the series of hearings on Pakistan convened by him.
Resorting to rhetoric, Pakistan army and the
government yesterday warned India against any Abbottabad-like "misadventure",
saying it would be responded to "very strongly" that could lead
to a "terrible catastrophe".
Senator Richard Lugar, the Ranking member,
argued that the US should not cut off its relationship with Pakistan.
"Distancing ourselves from Pakistan would
be unwise and extremely dangerous. It would weaken our intelligence gathering;
limit our ability to prevent conflict between India and Pakistan; further
complicate military operations in Afghanistan; end cooperation on finding
terrorists; and eliminate engagement with Islamabad on the security of its
nuclear weapons," he said.
"When I visit Pakistan, I get the sense
that the Pakistani business community, the political classes, get it that
they have not future if they're at constant war mentally with India. I think
a lot of people get it now. But the national security establishment, which
is a rather important part of Pakistan, still doesn't get it," said Michael
Krepon, Co-Founder and Senior Associate South Asia, Henry Stimson Center.
The US ties with India are going to continue
to get better, as they should.
"And Pakistan's national security establishment
is going to feel more insecure as a result," he said.
"We can't convince Pakistan's military
to befriend India. We can work with them to have a more normal relationship
with India, especially in the areas of trade and regional development. The
biggest challenge facing Pakistan's national security establishment is to
recognize how growing links to extremist groups mortgage that country's future,"
he said.
"The ISI still doesn't get this. Outfits
like Lashkar- e-Taiba are the leading edge of Pakistan's national demise.
If Pakistan's military leaders can't rethink the fundamentals of their anti-India
policy and their increased reliance on nuclear weapons, they will never know
true security," Krepon said.
Moeed Yusuf, South Asia Adviser Center for
Conflict Management, US Institute of Peace, argued that no amount of money
is going to change Pakistan's India mindset.
"Both sides were fairly close to an understanding
on a Kashmir solution themselves. I think we dropped the ball by not pushing
them hard enough to keep sitting on the table when they pulled back in 2007,"
he said.
"Terrorism is a serious issue. And I
think Pakistan needs to be pushed as much as it can. There's a joint terrorism
mechanism which we need to continue; both sides have agreed. But we want to
make sure they don't pull out. And third, I think equally important and overlooked
is the economic relationship," he said.
Observing that Indo-Pak normalization is critical
for Pakistan, but it is not US aid that is going to do the trick, he said.
"It would therefore be best to use America's
economic leverage to ensure better development outcomes, and returns on the
counterterrorism front should be linked only to security assistance,"
Yusuf said.
Senator Ben Cardin said the death of Osama
bin Laden presents the US with an opportunity to "reset" its ties
with the Pakistani people.
"The death of bin Laden provides us with
an opportunity to reach out to the Pakistani people so that they understand
that the gravest threat they face is not from the US military, but from terrorists
who are using their country as a safe heaven," said Cardin, a member
of Senate Foreign Relations Committee and chairman of the Subcommittee on
International Development and Foreign Assistance, Economic Affairs, and International
Environmental Protection.
"We need to do a better job of helping
Pakistanis understand that it is in their economic and security interests
to partner with the United States," he said in a statement. "In
Pakistan, we have an obligation and responsibility to American taxpayers to
make sure that US foreign aid is used to ensure our national security. Focusing
on the perception of the US by the Pakistani people is very important,"
he said.
"We need to ensure that our economic
and development efforts show that the United States is a partner with the
Pakistani people," Cardin said.
However, Congressman Vern Buchanan called
for a freeze in foreign aid to Pakistan until its leaders can show they had
no knowledge of bin Laden's whereabouts.
"While the death of bin Laden represents
a historic victory in our fight against terrorism, it also raises serious
concerns about Pakistan's commitment and reliability as an ally in our fight
against terrorism," said
"We should freeze all aid to Pakistan
until we have assurances that the Pakistani government is not in the business
of harboring terrorists," he said.
