WASHINGTON: US Senator John McCain’s warning
that if Pakistan does not stop supporting the Haqqani network, the United
States should change its ‘behaviour’ towards the Pakistani nation reflects
the changing mood in Washington towards a
country once considered a close ally.
Senator McCain, who was in Islamabad recently
before flying over to Kabul, said he had conveyed this message to Pakistan’s
civilian and military leaders as well.
“We have made it very clear that we expect they
[Pakistan] will cooperate with us, particularly against the Haqqani network and
against terrorist organisations,” he said at a news briefing on Tuesday in Kabul.
“If they don’t change their behaviour, maybe we
should change our behaviour towards Pakistan as a nation.”
According to some Pakistani sources, the terse
statement came even though during a briefing by top military officials Mr
McCain and his team were repeatedly informed that Pakistan had severed its
links with members of the Haqqani network. They added that if any militants
were found inside Pakistan they would be arrested and prosecuted.
Meanwhile, it is not just the United States which
talks about forcing Pakistan to change its Afghan policy. In a recent
statement, Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg issued a sterner warning.
“It is absolutely unacceptable that a country provides sanctuary to terrorist
groups which are responsible for terrorist attacks inside another country.”
A recent Pentagon report — which describes
Pakistan as “the most influential external actor” in Afghanistan — explains
that this new emphasis on Pakistan stems from a realisation that there can
neither be peace nor stability in Afghanistan if Islamabad does not support the
efforts to do so.
Senator McCain, a former Republican presidential
candidate who now heads the Senate Armed Services Committee, also underlined a
point that is often missing from such statements: despite recent successes, the
United States is not winning this war, at least not yet.
“None of us would say that we are on a course to
success here in Afghanistan,” he said at a news briefing at Nato-coalition
headquarters. “That needs to change and quickly.”
The Pentagon report — “Enhancing security and
stability in Afghanistan” — was presented to Senator McCain and his fellow
lawmakers before they flew to the Pak-Afghan region and it too blames Pakistan
for this lack of success, at least partly.
“Militant groups, including Taliban and Haqqani
senior leadership, retained safe havens inside Pakistani territory. Sustained
Pakistani efforts to disrupt active Haqqani network threats were not observed
during the reporting period (Dec 1, 2016, through May 31, 2017),” says the
report.
“The United States continues to be clear with
Pakistan about steps it should take to improve the security environment and
deny safe havens to terrorist and extremist groups,” the report adds.
Senator McCain, who has always been friendly to
Pakistan, also expressed his desire to stay engaged with Islamabad in his
statements in Pakistan and Afghanistan, a point that was also stressed in the
Pentagon report.
The United States, Mr McCain said, was counting
on Pakistan’s support to eliminate militancy, in particular the Haqqani
network.
The Pentagon report, however, also explains why
Pakistan continues to support certain militant groups, arguing that concerns
about India’s growing influence in Afghanistan prevents Pakistan from playing a
positive role in that country.
“Pakistan is the most influential external actor
affecting Afghan stability and the outcome of both the US and Nato missions”
there, says the Pentagon study, which also acknowledges that during the
reporting period, Pakistan contributed operational support to a combined US and
Afghan operation to combat the Khorasan chapter of the militant Islamic State
group.
The US and Nato-led operation Resolute Mission
continues to facilitate meetings between Afghanistan and Pakistan through its
Tripartite Joint Operations Centre, the report adds.
The Pentagon points out that “Pakistan views the
outcome of Afghanistan to be in its vital national interest and thus remains
driven by its India-centric regional policy objectives”. And because of this
“Afghan-oriented militant groups, including the Taliban and Haqqani network,
retain freedom of action inside Pakistani territory and benefit from support
from elements of the Pakistani government”.
Diplomatic observers in Washington say that since
President Donald Trump has given to his defence secretary the authority to
decide the size of US military presence in Afghanistan, the Pentagon report
will also influence the new Afghan strategy that the White House Security
Council is working on.
The new policy, expected later this month, is
likely to focus on the relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan and
terrorist networks throughout the region.
Reports in the US media suggest that US National
Security Adviser Gen H.R. McMaster and his team, tasked with making the new
strategy, are also reviewing US-Pakistan relations and may suggest some radical
changes.
The team may accept the Pentagon’s request for a
more aggressive role in Afghanistan, such as once again authorising the
military to target both Taliban and Haqqani network fighters. This may include
authorising US aircraft to pursue fleeing militants into Pakistan.
Besides seeking more powers for the military,
the Pentagon also wants Washington to use its relations with both Pakistan and
Afghanistan to improve ties between the neighbours.
“Attacks in Afghanistan attributed to
Pakistan-based militant networks continue to erode the Afghanistan-Pakistan
relationship. Militant groups, including the Taliban and Haqqani network,
continued to utilise sanctuaries inside Pakistan,” the report says.
“Pakistan’s belief that Afghanistan is not doing
enough to prevent cross-border attacks, such as a suicide bombing at a shrine
in Pakistan’s Sindh province in February 2017 that killed 72 people, further
hampers bilateral relations,” the report adds.
Published in Dawn, July
6th, 2017
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