Top US diplomat pleads against linking IOK with Afghanistan

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United States’ Assistant Secretary for South Asia Alice Wells visited Islamabad for five long days where she held important meetings with top Pakistani leadership, opposition parties, members of civil society, and some journalists during her stay.Unrelated to Kashmir crisis, her visit was originally a follow-up after Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Trump summit in Washington. However, she was caught up by the crisis in the wake of India’s scraping of Article 370 in the constitution.Besides, she had extensive agenda to cover: FATF, Afghanistan, opposition leaders’ arrests and complaints of media curbs. Reportedly, Miss Wells was particularly alarmed after news reports that Pakistan might link Afghanistan’s cooperation with India’s behaviour in IOK. At the moment, the bread and better issue for the US is security and Afghanistan. Pakistan’s role to support and facilitate Afghan peace and reconciliation is what the US is seeking to achieve the end goal to exit or draw down its forces from Afghanistan. In her interactions, the top US diplomat was reportedly pleading with Pakistani leadership not to withhold or reduce cooperation with the US, after the crisis on IOK by India.In her meetings with the Foreign Office and the Army leadership, Miss Wells was reportedly very anxious to dispel the impression that Indian move to modify the status of Jammu and Kashmir, had a nod from the US or it was with their consent. Indian media was claiming that Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar had actually taken into confidence, his US counterpart, Mike Pompeo in Bangkok, a week before the BJP government’s annexation of J&K.But the US top diplomat was at pains to clarify US position saying Washington was not taken on board by the Indian leadership on scraping article 370. Hence the State Department issued a clarification on her behalf, to this effect, to calm nerves in Islamabad. It was a degree of rebuke of reports from India.However, many in Islamabad doubt that Washington’s strategic partner (i.e. India) could cross a redline without the prior US knowledge at some level even suspecting a degree of complicity. The Trump Administration is dove on India militarily but hawk on Delhi’s trade.FATF was another very important agenda item she discussed threadbare with finance ministry. PM’s Sepcial Economic Advisor Hafiz Shikh explained Pakistani efforts so far Islamabad has taken or partiality taken or in the process of taking. Overall, she was reportedly satisfied with the work being in place by relevant departments to curb money laundering and concerning capacity building. The September meeting likely to be held in Paris will review grey listing of Pakistan’s status.However, the most important feedback, Miss Wells is likely to report back to Washington is that she will update the Trump Administration on the progress on FATF and will most likely recommend to Congress to unfreeze Coalition Support Fund to Pakistan (i.e, which is around $350 million President Trump withheld). Though the amount is not significant, the likely move will have symbolic value and optic wise underling the fact that the once frosty ties are paving way for a new warmth in bilaterals.During her five days stay, Miss Wells also interacted with some members of media, civil society and opposition leaders in particular PML-N’s General Secrteary Prof Ahsan Iqbal and later PML-N’s Focal person for foreign affairs, Mohmmad Mehdi; in addition to PPP leadership. Pakistan’s internal political situation was also discussed.The core issue for the US is to solicit Pakistan’s cooperation on Afghan exit strategy and help ensure stability in the region. Both Islamabad Washington firmly believe what is expected of each side, what is termed as transactional deliverables: each side gets what it wants most — Pakistan will get a slab on Indian influence in Afghanistan eventually and the US will wrap up a war theatre claiming victory. Thus Afghanistan is one such area of convergence between the two countries.All criticism at home by some members of opposition to aimed against Imran Khan for allegedly jettisoning strategic relations with China as a quid pro quo for thaw in the US-Pak ties, are not aware of Pakistan’s foreign and strategic policies. Strategic relations with China is a lever in Pakistani tool kit to use on Washington if things go south in bilateral relations in post-peace-settlement Afghanistan in two years down the line.After all the lure of hardware Indian market and its potential role in Indo-Pacific region is a permanent break on any possible transition of Pak-US ties from transactional nature to strategic one. So rhetorics of opposition on US-China binary fails to live up to real time experience of Pakistan’s past foreign policy trajectory of its China and US policies and their scope and limits.The visit of Miss Wells was positive from both ends — US and Pakistan’s viewpoints. For now, let us enjoy the thaw in ties before any disruptor mars bilateral relations between Washington and Islamabad. (Jan Achakzai is a geopolitical analyst, a politician from Balochistan, and ex-adviser to the Balochistan government on media and strategic communication. He remained associated with BBC World Service. He is also Chairman of Centre for Geo-Politics & Balochistan)http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/com/cwEr/~4/CugVKlIn-Hc

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