Pakistan will stand up to Trump’s intimidation

Officials believe the US strategy gives an open cheque to New Delhi to act against Islamabad

Aunanimous parliamentary resolution in Islamabad on August 30, which denounced United States President Donald Trump’s “complete disregard for Pakistan’s vast sacrifices” in counter-terror efforts and called on the government to consider suspending cooperation with the US, possibly defined the new contours of ties with Washington. Also, the tone and tenor of Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi while unveiling his new Afghan and South Asia strategy indicated that after a decade-and-a half of rocky ties Pakistani civilian and military elites have decided to collectively reject Trump’s intimidation of Pakistan.

With this Pakistan drew the line between its own course of anti-terror action and the demands placed by Trump. It went into an “enough is enough” mode in unison, and foreign minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif put off his Washington visit. Both Abbasi and army chief General Qamar Bajwa rebuked Trump for singling out Pakistan as the cause of Afghanistan’s troubles, and instead demanded “due” recognition of its material losses (up to $125 bn) and human sacrifices (nearly 70,000) in the anti-terror war. Abbasi went to the extent of forecasting doom for Trump’s Afghan policy.

And there are cogent reasons for this bravado in Islamabad.

First, Trump and Prime Minister Modi’s ascendant views on Pakistan have fuelled frustration and driven the political Right and Left into believing that the “unholy collusion” comprising India, Afghanistan and the US is aimed at hurting the interests — not only of Pakistan but also of its political allies such as China and Russia. Even the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), an ardent supporter for friendly relations with India, and Imran Khan’s PTI, appeared incensed over the India-US synergy on Afghanistan.

Second, most Pakistani officials insist, that the Trump strategy gives an open cheque to India to act against Pakistan, and hence are extremely suspicious of the motives.

Third, Pakistan’s security establishment views the Trump strategy as an excuse for long-term presence in Afghanistan with the ultimate objectives of containment of China, a check on a resurgent Russia and preventing both from turning the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) into a formidable regional block.

Security officials don’t rule out economic sanctions or intensification in kinetic attacks on targets inside Pakistan if the Trump administration decided to ramp up pressure. But General (rtd) Nasir Khan Janjua, Pakistan’s national security adviser, cautions against the use of force on either side of the border: “One should not try to win war in Afghanistan by way of vengeance ….. this will further spread the conflict and spiral things out of control,” Janjua said in his meeting with US ambassador David Hale. Janjua’s message implied that responsibility for peace in Afghanistan rested on all, who must seek the “closure of the conflict”, instead of trying to win it through military means.

Fourth, is the message related to “bullying” by the US. If a chance of Pakistan bending under pressure ever existed at all that would have been before China offered its strategic embrace through the China-Pakistan Economy Corridor in 2015.

Fifth, unlike Trump and Modi, Chinese, Russian and Iranian leaders think differently on the chequered peace process in Afghanistan and are more aligned with the Pakistani view on the way forward in Afghanistan.

Sixth, Pakistan is forging ahead with its new “border management mechanism.” However displeasing it may be for Afghans, who historically prefer to see the Durand Line as border, Pakistan is setting up new security posts, digging protective trenches and placing fences at critical segments of the 2,560-km border with Afghanistan.

Without confronting the US head-on, Pakistani officials hope to blunt the Trumpled allegations of Pakistan being the “source of violence” in Afghanistan. The silver lining lies in what US secretary of defence James Mattis said in Washington last Thursday. “We intend to work with Pakistan in order to take the terrorists down. I think that’s what a responsible nation does,” Mattis said when asked as to “what kind of relationship the US wanted to keep with Pakistan”.

Imtiaz Gul is an author and heads the Centre for Research and Security Studies, Islamabad The views expressed are personal

UNLIKE TRUMP AND MODI, CHINESE, RUSSIAN AND IRANIAN LEADERS THINK DIFFERENTLY ON THE PEACE PROCESS IN AFGHANISTAN AND ARE MORE ALIGNED WITH THE PAKISTANI VIEW ON THE WAY FORWARD.