Putting our own house in order

Recently a lot has been said and is being said about “putting our own house in order”; from the interior minister to the prime minister, all voiced their support for the notion. Our foreign minister while talking at the Asian Society event in New York very frankly and boldly explained Pakistan’s narrative but he too reiterated what his colleagues from the national cabinet said.

This wave of enlightenment in not home grown but is a result of a Trump tirade at the Fort Myer, the tirade which is now commonly known as the Trump administration’s Afghan policy. The policy not only puts all the blame of America’s great Afghan failure on Pakistan but it goes beyond that and calls Pakistan a supporter of terrorism as the safe heavens of Afghan Taliban are situated in Pakistan; in short Pakistan is responsible for everything that is wrong with Afghanistan today. Something that adds insult to injury, the policy talks about giving India a greater role in Afghanistan’s development. India as being the partner in Afghan development means more Indian soft power in Afghanistan and a further positive image. This policy not only undermines Pakistan’s role and sacrifices in the war against terror but it also shows Pakistan as some country that is always ready to peel off whatever US dollars they get their hands on. This policy has less to do with rebuilding a safer Afghanistan but has more to do with a US containment policy of China; in that policy India is an important cog while Pakistan being a friend of China naturally has to take all the blame. The policy is welcomed in Kabul and New Delhi as it establishes their stance.

The US Afghan policy is not the lone stimulant that has triggered this thinking of putting your own house in order, in the recently concluded BRICS summit; many outfits which are usually denoted with Pakistan were dubbed as responsible for violence in the region. This happened in presence of Russia and China, who support Pakistan’s stance of an indigenous, Afghan led regional approach to the Afghan problem and were also the first two countries that voiced their dissent against the new American Afghan policy. The possible justification for this can be that is both China and Russia house a sizeable Muslim population and their Muslim population has a history of separatist movements and violence, in the times of Al-Qaeda and ISIS, when extremism and militancy are not geographically bound, thus fearing for any backlash at the home soil such preemptive action is justified. Instead of lamenting our friends we should be aware of their limitations and compulsions. Every country has the right to act in their national interests. Country to country relations are based on the convergence of national interests.

This brings me back to the home front and to our above mentioned debate, for the last decade or so; Pakistan is putting her own house in order; from the operation Al-Mizan to the ongoing operation Radd-ul-Fasaad, all these military operations were and are directed towards the home grown menace of terrorism so by so that in the times of former Army chief, General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, Pakistan Army saw a paradigm shift in its doctrine and the internal security threats were declared a bigger threat then the traditional Indian centric threat, which has been the mainstay of Pakistan’s national security since her inception. So, it will be unjust to say that there is no kind of awareness or understanding exists in Pakistan. These actions pretty much talk for themselves and tell that Pakistan is well aware and awake.

However, the bigger question is what should be done in the aftermath of the recent happenings? Pakistan should look at all of her options carefully. A rational and practical policy with a long sighted vision should be adopted. It would be wrong to not to engage with the US as some hawks suggest. We should keep in mind that even today US is the biggest market of Pakistani products and is home to a sizeable number of Pakistani expatriates, whose remittances are very important to Pakistan’s financial survival other than that US is still a super power. Pakistan should also continue her support for the Afghan led peace process as peace in Afghanistan ensures peace in Pakistan. Pakistan should also look at improving her bilateral ties with Afghanistan, people to people contact should be encouraged and more and more Afghan students should be given admissions in Pakistan’s educational institutions. The Afghan refugees can also help to establish goodwill between the two countries. Pakistan can achieve this just by making their stay in Pakistan a bit more comfortable.

It is for Pakistan to realize that if the world demands heads, we at least have to give them some limbs.