Daily Times editorial July 17, 2011

Pasha’s fence-mending visit

After a flying visit to Washington, where he met the acting head of the CIA and other intelligence officials, ISI chief Lieutenant General Ahmad Shuja Pasha seems to have been successful in mending fences with the US. From the sparse reports emanating from Washington and elsewhere, it is being claimed that the intelligence relationship is back on track, while other contentious issues have been discussed in a good atmosphere and are heading for resolution. It is necessary to remind ourselves of the low relations had hit over the last few months through a series of events causing extreme tensions and ending with the unilateral raid on Abbottabad on May 2 to take out Osama bin Laden without so much as informing the Pakistani authorities.
The agenda for the talks included repairing the ruptured intelligence sharing arrangements between the ISI and CIA, which had nosedived during outgoing CIA chief Leon Panetta’s tenure. Incoming incumbent at the CIA General Petraeus is on the verge of taking over, Panetta having moved to Defence. Also, General Pasha sought assurances of no repetition of the unilateral action of May 2, which proved highly embarrassing to the military top brass and the ISI, prompting a rare appearance by the ISI chief before parliament where he proffered an even more unprecedented apology for the lapses exposed by the May 2 raid and even went so far as to offer to resign. Our parliamentarians, perhaps motivated by a sense of the beleaguered state of Pakistan’s sovereignty and not willing to put the boot in when the military and ISI were down, bailed Pasha and his own and parent organisation out. Nevertheless, public and parliamentary opinion veered towards an assertion of Pakistan’s independence and sovereignty, prompting the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs to assert on Friday that while good relations with the US were important, these could not be at the cost of infringements of the country’s sovereignty, particularly singling out drone strikes in this regard.
General Pasha was also reassured in Washington on another bone of contention that has arisen of late in the Pak-US relationship: the perceived bypassing of Pakistan (read the ISI) in the reported US efforts to talk to the Taliban. Since the ISI had been manoeuvring to remain centre-stage in these delicate negotiations on the eve of the US troops withdrawal, the reported ‘independent’ contacts between Washington and the Taliban caused a great deal of angst in Rawalpindi. General Pasha was administered the palliative of an assurance that the US understood and underlined Pakistan’s interests and concerns in Afghanistan and saw it as very important in the negotiating process with the Taliban. Whether these are just soothing words or genuinely meant will only be revealed over time.
The suspended $ 800 million in military aid was apparently not discussed in Washington since, it is said, it is already on the discussion table in Islamabad. However, an explanatory note sought to put the issue in perspective by pointing out that $ 500 million of the withheld aid was for the US trainers who have been withdrawn on Pakistan’s behest. The balance $ 300 million is Coalition Support Fund reimbursements that are touted to be released ‘soon’. Again, the proof of the pudding…
The issue of visas for American personnel was also reportedly dealt with, but no details are so far available of just how this problem was sorted out.
The visit may or may not have sorted out all the contentious issues bedevilling relations between the US and Pakistan, but on the face of it, the two intelligence services have managed to smooth each other’s ruffled feathers and promised ‘good behaviour’ with each other and all round. Even this much forward movement is a reflection, despite recent tensions in the relationship, of the huge stakes for both sides in the run up to endgame in Afghanistan. What the visit also highlights is the advantage of quiet conversations away from the glare of publicity and in which the two sides have talked to, rather than at, each other. How far this obvious exercise in pulling back from the brink of a complete breakdown and mending fences has removed the cankers in the relationship and how smooth the running will be from now on are all matters to be revealed in the fullness of time. However, the question, in the midst of the convergence in Washington, remains what the two allies intend or can do about the divergences on Afghanistan and the war against terrorism.