By
Sajjad Shaukat
Trust deficit has deepened between
Pakistan and the US since May 21, 2016, when the CIA-operated drone strike
killed the Chief of the Afghan Taliban Mullah Akhtar Mansour along with
his poor taxi-driver Azam in Nushki, Balochistan.
On
June 10, this year, a high-level delegation of the US, including Gen. John
Nicholson, Commander Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan, and Ambassador
Richard Olson, US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan visited
Islamabad and met Pakistan’s Chief of the Army Staff Gen. Raheel Sharif and
Adviser to the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz
Adviser separately.
According
to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), during the
meeting, “regional Security Situation, with particular reference to border
management and peace and stability in Afghanistan in the post-21 May US
drone strike environment came under discussion. Expressing his serious
concern on the US drone
strike in Balochistan as a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty, the army
chief highlighted as to how it had impacted the mutual trust and was counterproductive
in consolidating the gains of Operation Zarb-e-Azb.
Gen. Raheel Sharif said all efforts for durable peace in the
region have to be synergized with shared commitment…all stakeholders need to
understand Pakistan’s challenges with regard to porous border, inter-tribal
linkages and decades-old presence of over three million refugees. Blaming Pakistan for instability in Afghanistan is
unfortunate. Raising the demand of targeting TTP and
Mullah Fazlullah in their bases in Afghanistan, the army chief reiterated
Pakistan’s resolve not to allow hostile intelligence agencies’ efforts,
especially RAW and NDS, of fomenting terrorism…Pakistan is committed to
work for a long term peace process for Afghanistan under the Quadrilateral
Coordination Group framework.”
During
talks, Sartaj Aziz also expressed almost similar by adding that the May 21
drone strike was not only a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and breach of
the principles of the United Nations Charter, but has also vitiated bilateral
ties between the US and Pakistan.
Calling the US
to respect Pakistan’s
sovereignty, Foreign Minister of China Wang Yi also condemned the drone attack
on June 9, 2016 by elaborating, “Pakistan has given innumerable
sacrifices for war on terror. The world powers should acknowledge Pakistan’s sacrifices…rather than
criticizing…Quadrilateral Committee on Afghanistan has been formed for
process of reconciliation. Pakistan
had always supported continuing Afghanistan
reconciliation process and other parties should also play their due role in
this process.”
However, America’s
open double standards in relation to India
and Pakistan and secret
double game with the latter have created unbridgeable trust deficit between Pakistan and the US.
The US
has always preferred New Delhi over Islamabad. In this
context, recently, the US State Department official David Ranz stated that the
deal of supplying F-16 aircraft to Pakistan was no longer possible,
because the deal expired on May 24, 2016, as the U Congress did not approve it.
During the recent visit of the Indian
Prime Minister Narendra Modi to America,
he and President Obama met on June 7, 2016. Addressing the media
jointly, Prime Modi said, “I am thankful for the help and support that my
friend Barack Obama has extended with regard to India’s membership of the
Missile Technology Control Regime and Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)…India and
the US have been working shoulder to shoulder and are proud of this legacy and
will continue working with each other.”
India and the US
have agreed to build six nuclear reactors in India. In this context, during his
first visit to New Delhi, on November 6, 2010 the US President Obama announced
the measures, America would take regarding removal of Indian space and defence
companies from a restricted “entities list”, and supported Indian demand for a
permanent seat in the UN Security Council including membership of four key
global nuclear nonproliferation regimes. The US
agreed to sell India
the most expensive—the new F-35 fighter jets including other modern aircraft
and weapons.
Ignoring the solution of Kashmir dispute
which resulted into three wars between India
and Pakistan, America started backing Indian hegemony in Asia
to counterbalance China.
During President Obama’s second visit to India, on January 25, 2015, the US and
India announced a breakthrough on a pact which would allow American companies
to supply New Delhi with civilian nuclear technology, as agreed upon in 2008 in
order to make India a great power of Asia. This duplicity has initiated a
dangerous arms race between Pakistan
and India, and between China and India.
Setting aside the Indian irresponsible
record of non-proliferation, and safety of nuclear arms, Washington also pressurized the International Atomic Agency (IAEA) to sign
an accord of specific safeguards with India. It permitted New Delhi a broad atomic
cooperation, while superseding the IAEA regarding transfer of nuclear
equipments and technologies. These arrangements also entail enrichment and
reprocessing items under the so-called cover of IAEA. America had already contacted the Nuclear
Suppliers Group to grant a waiver to India
for starting civil nuclear trade on larger scale, while the latter had been
getting nuclear material and arms of all kinds from Israel,
and other Western countries like UK,
Germany and France.
Undoubtedly, unlike
Indian past record which proves various kinds of unprotected incidents,
security lapses in relation to various nuclear plants and the related-sensitive
materials including events of nuclear theft and smuggling, Pakistan’s nuclear
assets are in safe hands—well-protected and are under tight security
arrangements, having the best command and control system. This fact has also
been recognized by some top officials of the US and some western countries.
However, taking cognizance of the US
double standard, China and
some responsible countries have decided that they would oppose in the meeting
of the Nuclear Suppliers
Group to grant a waiver to India
in this regard.
Nevertheless, after the latest incident of
drone attack in Balochistan, Afghan Taliban leaders refused to participate in
the US-sponsored talks with the Afghan government. Notably, in the recent past,
with the help of Pakistan, a
series of meetings were held in Islamabad and Kabul among the representatives of Pakistan, Afghanistan,
China and the US to develop an understanding for the earliest
possible resumption of stalled talks between the Afghan government and the
Taliban with view to ending nearly 15 years of bloodshed in Afghanistan. For
the purpose, a number of the trilateral meetings were also held among Pakistan, Afghanistan
and the America.
It is mentionable that on January 13,
2015, at least seven personnel of the Afghan security forces died during the
suicide attack which targeted the Pakistani consulate in Jalalabad. The Islamic
State group (ISIS, ISIL or Daesh) claimed responsibility for the terror assault
which coincided with efforts to restart the suspended peace process with
Taliban insurgents. Pakistani sources suggested that Indian secret agency RAW
was behind this terror attack to thwart these peace talks.
Indian desperation in Afghanistan is increased in the backdrop of
growing engagements of Islamabad, Kabul, Beijing and Washington. Therefore,
by arranging terror-assaults in Pakistan
and Afghanistan, New Delhi is also sabotaging the peace process between the
Afghan officials and representatives of Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan, which started in Murree,
Pakistan, on July 8, 2015
through a meeting, hosted by Islamabad,
and in it, Chinese and American representatives, also participated.
While, the US,
China and Pakistan are jointly working to facilitate the
process so as to bring peace both in Pakistan
and Afghanistan,
and the whole region. But, America
is playing double game with Pakistan,
because it is the only nuclear country in the Islamic World, which irritates America, India,
Israel and some Western
partners of the US.
Hence, secret agents of American CIA, Israeli Mossad and Indian RAW which are
well-penetrated in the ISIS, the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) are using the
militants of these terrorist outfits to destabilize Tibetan regions of China,
Iranian Sistan-Baluchistan, Pakistan’s province of Balochistan and Central Asia
(Russian interests) by arranging the subversive activities to promote
acrimonious sense of dissent, sectarian violence and to arouse sentiments of
separatism. In this connection, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is
their special target. Collectively or individually, these intelligence agencies
are also assisting Jundullah (God’s soldiers)—the Sunni militant group which is
active in Balochistan against Shias. Besides martyring several personnel of Pakistan’s
security agencies in the province, these foreign-backed entities kidnapped and
massacred many innocent people, including Chinese and Iranian nationals.
Based in the Afghan provinces of Kunar and
Nuristan, Maulvi Fazlullah, chief of the TTP is running a parallel government
in Afghanistan.
The militants of this outfit have their own legal system/legislation and own
authority, exercising strict control in most parts of Afghanistan.
TTP terrorists may have had visited Pakistan under the garb of Afghan refugees for
medical treatment, but remain operational in Afghanistan. Early return of Afghan
refugees from Pakistan,
and better management—control of Pak-Afghan border is, therefore, essential.
In case of Afghanistan,
there are several groups of Al-Qaeda, ISIS and
Taliban. Some of them are being used by CIA, Mossad and RAW to obtain the
collective and individual designs of their countries against Pakistan and the Middle
East. India
and Israel which want to
prolong the stay of the US-led NATO troops in Afghanistan
which have become the center of covert activities, are exploiting their dual
policy, especially of America
against Pakistan, China and Iran. Particularly, terrorists of
ISIS and TTP which are strategic assets of the CIA, RAW and Mossad have
claimed responsibility for several terror attacks inside Pakistan, including the recent ones in Lahore (Children
Park on Easter Sunday), Balochistan, Karachi and in Afghanistan. In some cases, Indian
RAW which has well-established its network in Afghanistan,
is also alone conducting subversive attacks in Pakistan. While in some cases, with
the help of TTP and ISIS, Mossad and RAW are collectively arranging terror
attacks in Afghanistan
to create further lawlessness in that country
because it suits their clandestine interests.
In the first week of May, 2016, credible
online sources disclosed that Engineer Mohammad Khan, the 1st Advisor and a close friend of Afghan Chief Executive
Abdullah Abdullah has been arrested by Afghan forces/agencies for alleged links
with the ISIS. Information strongly suggests
that the ISIS has penetrated even in high
ranking Afghan government officials as well.
It is noteworthy that those Taliban groups
which are fighting against the occupying foreign for the liberation of their
country know that ISIS is backed by the US-led
countries. Hence, a number of times, they have attacked on the ISIS terrorists
in Afghanistan.
In the recent years, when the US-led NATO
forces felt that they were failing in coping with the stiff resistance of the
Taliban in Afghanistan, the high officials and media of their countries started
accusing Pakistan’s army and country’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of
supporting the Afghan Taliban in order to pacify their public for the
protracted war in that country, which still continues. India avail the opportunity and also accused Islamabad of cross-border terrorism in Afghanistan.
However, it was part of the US
double game with Islamabad.
It is notable that when Pakistan’s Armed
Forces broke the backbone of the militants through military operation
Zarb-i-Azb which started on June 15, 2014 in North Waziristan Agency, and
afterwards, extended to some other tribal agencies—killing thousands of
insurgents including foreign terrorists, while, ISI and other law-enforcing
agencies captured several terrorists in various regions of Pakistan, including
suicide-jackets and weapons. What the US-led NATO countries could not do in Afghanistan in the last 14 years, Pakistan’s
Armed Forces have done in one year. Taking note of the ground realities, the US and other
Western countries have begun appreciating the capabilities of Pakistan Army and
other security agencies, and are, now, recognizing the sacrifices of the
country against terrorism. But, especially America
is still playing double game with Pakistan by following an ambivalent
strategy.
Nonetheless, the strikes by the unmanned
aerial vehicles (UAVs) which have continued in Pakistan’s
tribal areas since 2004 have intensified during the Obama era, and are clear
violation of international laws and open act of aggression damaging sovereignty
and territorial integrity of Pakistan.
Collateral damage caused by these strikes is not only clear violation of
international human rights, but also ignite violent and retaliatory sentiment
among victims and perpetuate extremist wave.
American double standards are significant,
as on one hand they demanded Pak support for dialogue and on the other hand,
targeted Taliban Chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour with drone, putting Pakistan in to
a difficult position.
During war against terrorism, Pakistan which
has rendered innumerable sacrifices in men and material and has always
condemned such action which is a cause of regional instability.
We can conclude that the double standards
and double game of the US-led entities have created unbridgeable trust deficit
between Pakistan and the US.
Sajjad Shaukat writes on international
affairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic Militants, Invisible
Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relations
Email: sajjad_logic@yahoo.com
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