The week past was witness to three major occurrences that may have prompted a revisit of our earlier perceptions of performance of the Sharif administration, the establishment and the much respected Edhi Foundation. The events include an assessment of the Prime Minister's official visit to the United States, the cost of his four day "official" sojourn in the UK (one day en route to DC and three days on the way back), the destruction wrought by the earthquake and its handling by the PML-N government and the establishment and the repatriation of Geeta to India.
The Prime Minister's visit to the US, as has become the norm, was declared a great success by all government functionaries though critics dismissed the entire trip as unnecessary based on the assumption that key decisions from the American perspective relating to terrorism and fundamentalism would be more appropriately dealt with during the forthcoming official visit of Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif to the US. The US interest lies in Afghanistan, regional security concerns and the menace of Islamic State. So what did the US get from the Sharif visit? Six major inputs into the communiqué are widely believed to have been critical from the US perspective while raising some concerns about their inclusion by Pakistan's defence establishment. First and foremost as per the communiqué 'the Prime Minister reaffirmed that Pakistan's territory will not be used against any other country' and what may have appeased establishment concerns was the addition that 'this is an obligation of all countries in the region' - a reference clearly to Afghanistan.
Secondly, the communiqué notes that "the Prime Minister outlined the actions that Pakistan is taking under the National Action Plan (NAP) to ensure that the Taliban - including the Haqqani Network - are unable to operate from the soil of Pakistan. The US has long believed that the Haqqani group has Pakistan's support though General Raheel Sharif has been at pains to reiterate that there are no good or bad terrorists simply terrorists who will be eliminated.
Thirdly, as has become a usual component of joint statements between our leadership and the West the communiqué states that "President Obama and Prime Minister Sharif renewed their common resolve to promote peace and stability throughout the region and to counter all forms of extremism and terrorism....Both leaders noted that the stability of South Asia depended on co-operation among all neighbours to suppress all extremist and militant groups operating in the region. Highlighting the quickly evolving extremist landscape from the Sahel to South Asia, the President and Prime Minister noted with satisfaction that the United States and Pakistan are working closely to counter emerging terrorist groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)/Da'esh in South Asia. The Prime Minister reiterated Pakistan's firm resolve not to allow any ISIL/Da'esh footprint in Pakistan".
Fourthly, the communiqué states that "President Obama and Prime Minister Sharif discussed the continuing threat of nuclear terrorism." This addition is no doubt viewed by the establishment with concern as it reflects Western concerns with the expansion of our nuclear energy and nuclear weapons programmes with Chinese assistance for ostensibly reasons of their safety. This may well account for the statement issued by Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry Friday urging world powers not to pressurise Pakistan on its nuclear programme adding that "rather than making unrealistic demands on Pakistan to compromise its core security interests major powers must consider the implications of their actions and policies."
Fifth, the Prime Minister apprised the President about "Pakistan's resolve to take effective action against United Nations designated terrorist individuals, including Lashkar-i-Tayyaba and its affiliates." And finally our PM had to clarify that the "recently issued policy guidelines with respect to International NGOs operating in the country were meant to facilitate the functioning of NGOs and committed to review these guidelines and implement them in consultation with all stakeholders".
However, from Pakistan's perspective, the inclusion of two statements in the communiqué dilute the impact of the US supported inputs namely (i) both leaders affirmed that regional peace and stability required the prevention of attacks across the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and (ii) the communiqué acknowledged violations on the Line of Control (LoC); and Pakistan's civilian leadership has made much of the inclusion of Kashmir in the communiqué even though its solution, as has been the US stance, was to be through "confidence building measures" and "effective mechanism that are acceptable to both parties."
The rest of the communiqué was no game changer and included reference to (i) an enduring partnership vital to regional and global peace and security, (ii) US engagement with Pakistan's deficient social and physical sectors, (iii) climate change (with Pakistan admitting that it has yet to submit the Intended Nationally Determined Contribution), (iv) US continued support for Central Asia South Asia electricity and Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan and India pipeline (no mention of the Iran Pakistan gas pipeline), and (v) "President Obama expressed support for Pakistan's efforts to secure funding for the Diamer-Bhasha and Dasu dams to help meet Pakistan's energy and water needs," with no mention of any US financial support for the projects.
But what detracted the public from focusing on the merits or demerits of Sharif's visit to DC was his 'unofficial' four-night stay in London. Information Minister Pervez Rashid clarified to the Business Recorder that the small plane used by the Prime Minister requires re-fuelling after 8000 nautical miles which necessitated the stay in London. But when it was pointed out to him that re-fuelling takes no more than 6 to 7 hours and not four days and that the stay required the government to pay parking fees as well as the hotel stay of the PM's delegation he stated that Nawaz Sharif is the country's prime minister and hence entitled to this. Such statements unfortunately do little to convince the heavily taxed public that the PML-N government is cognisant of their concerns with respect to extravagance by our leadership at their expense.
On Monday last the earthquake that struck was near the magnitude of the 2005 quake but fatalities and damage are significantly lower, though not fully quantified as rescue and relief activities are still ongoing. The difference in approach in 2015 relative to 2005 is two-fold. First the civilian government has been visibly more responsive not only in announcing a package a mere two days after the quake but the Prime Minister himself personally visited the badly affected areas; and secondly General Raheel Sharif-led establishment has been visibly more proactive in the immediate aftermath of the quake. Pervez Rashid mentioned that all proscribed organisations are banned from extending assistance to the quake victims but unlike in 2005 there are no reports of civil society and/or religious groups reaching the affected areas before the civilian government or the military personnel this time around. Unfortunately though what was learned in 2005 and never implemented was the need to allocate a reasonable sum for natural disasters in the budget and to ensure that building codes relating to public infrastructure and private assets are actually implemented as much as possible.
Finally Geeta is back in India, she was not coerced into changing her religion during her long sojourn in Pakistan and she left bearing gifts from her Pakistani hosts, Edhi and his family. This event was perhaps a far more successful exercise in generating goodwill towards Pakistan than the Prime Minister's visit to the US. Edhi's refusal to accept Modi's donation and instead urging him to allocate the amount to a domestic Indian charity further strengthened our image in the eyes of the world.
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