Pakistanis protest U.S. drone attacks in the country's tribal areas.
U.S.-Pakistan Ties
Demand Deal on the Use of Drones (Daily Jang, Pakistan)
“So while the
Americans have no plans to ease their drone program, Pakistanis aren’t about to
give up their mantra on sovereignty. … Pakistan and the United States must
evolve a new framework for the use of drone aircraft that will involve at least
a semblance of shared control over the program, in which targets are mutually
agreed upon.”
Richard Holbrooke's replacement: Marc Grossman, the U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, has one of the toughest portfolios in American diplomacy. He is fresh off a visit to Islamabad, where he told Pakistan officials there would be no cessession on drone attacks.
Now that the Parliamentary Committee’s protracted review of National
Security is over and a consensus resolution on terms of engagement with the
United States has been passed, where do Pakistan-U.S. relations stand, and
where are they headed?
After a five-month suspension, Pakistan and the United
States resumed formal talks on Thursday, but made no headway ending the “stalemate”
over resuming the use of Pakistan supply routes to NATO. The reason?:
Washington’s refusal to offer an unconditional public apology for the November
26, 2011 strike on the check post in Salala or negotiate
on drone attacks.
In fact, some commentators go as far as to say that this
week’s high-level talks between Pakistan officials and the America’s special envoy
for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Marc Grossman, ended in “complete failure.” The U.S.
was told categorically by no less than President Zardari
that progress toward reengagement will only be possible with an apology. Zardari asserted that Pakistan had followed a democratic
course for re-engagement, and that now it was America’s
turn to help Pakistan achieve closure on the Salala
issue. Americans sources privy to the meetings say Pakistan was uncompromising
and that Pakistanis need to stop harping on about an apology and be satisfied with
an invitation to the [May 20-21 NATO] summit in Chicago in return for a
reopening of NATO ground supply routes.
Indeed, at a press conference with Foreign Secretary JalilAbbasJilani,
Ambassador Grossman unambiguously avoided issuing an apology for the NATO air
strikes, but did express regret and sorrow.
The other sticking point is of course U.S. drone strikes
inside Pakistan. President Zardari raised the issue
during his meeting with Grossman, who told him that there is a need to form a new
counter-terrorism cooperation mechanism and find mutually acceptable
alternatives to drones.
Posted by Worldmeets.US
But an “immediate cessation of drone strikes,” as the Pakistan
Parliament demanded in its resolution, will not be easy to arrange. While
drones may be a hot-button political issue for Pakistani politicians thanks to
public outrage, the Obama Administration considers their operations vital to
disrupting terrorist and insurgent networks as well as for protecting U.S.
troops fighting in Afghanistan.
So while the Americans have no plans to ease their drone
program, Pakistanis aren’t about to give up their mantra on sovereignty. How can
this stalemate be resolved? Some kind of a middle ground must be found. Pakistan
and the United States must evolve a new framework for the use of drone aircraft
that will involve at least a semblance of shared control of over program, in
which targets are mutually agreed upon.
