It is gratifying, for once, to have US officials visit Pakistan and have something to say other than admonish us to ‘do more’ in the fight against militancy. It may be a truism to say the region is complex and has many actors of ambivalent motivations and so no one country can be blamed for all the problems. A delegation of visiting US senators, including former Republican presidential candidate John McCain, met with Army Chief Raheel Sharif and acknowledged the need for greater ties with McCain – particularly singling out our successes in Operation Zarb-e-Azb. The propriety of the senators meeting with the army chief rather than the civilian leadership aside, this visit was useful because Pakistan needs to maintain good ties with both parties in the US to ensure the relationship doesn’t become any more rocky. The Republican Party controls both houses of Congress in the US and it was they who decided not to provide funding for the F-16 deal. McCain, as chairman of the Senate Arms Services Committee, and Lindsey Graham, as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, are two of the most important voices in deciding how money will be spent. They are also particularly loud voices on foreign policy so winning them over should pay dividends.
At the same time, US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Olson was in the country to meet with both the civilian and military leadership and the focus, predictably, was on Afghanistan. Pakistan’s main issue these days is the building of a border gate at Torkham and the continued presence of Afghan refugees. The US, which has long been calling for us to do a better job of border management and which is the foremost contributor to the conditions which created so many refugees, needs to play an impartial mediating role. Without giving any commitments, Olson did appreciate Pakistan hosting refugees for so many years and said the US supported our moves towards border management. The US is in a difficult position because it needs to keep Afghanistan happy enough that it plays a constructive role in the Quadrilateral Coordination Group to bring the Afghan Taliban to the negotiating table without making Pakistan feel like it is being taken for granted. Tensions between Pakistan and the US are still high because of the collapse of the F-16 deal and the drone killing of Mullah Mansour in Balochistan. Such meetings may not yield instant results but at the very least they ensure that ties do not break down completely.https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/132704-Visitors-from-the-US
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