Singh in Washington - and Pakistan’s options
PakistanPal
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's official visit to the United
States should have been the major story in Pakistan's media. But our
right-wing anchors and columnists and "get-Zardari" editors are far
more focused on the domestic power struggles to realize that the
nightmare of Pakistan's strategic encirclement may already be on the
brink of becoming reality.
The less attention Pakistanis pay to fighting terrorism and figuring
out a way of dealing with the world, the more likely it is that India
- the country with which Pakistan has fought four wars in 62 years -
will continue to gain ground. India already has better relations with
the governments of Afghanistan and Iran, our western neighbours. The
more we demonstrate hatred towards the United States, the more we
contribute to making the India-US relationship into an anti-Pakistan
alliance, which need not be. We could complain and get angry with the
US, as the Jamaatis and the Ghairat lobby advocate, or we could
analyse the rising Indian influence and figure out ways of combating
it.
It is interesting to note that in the ongoing Pakistani debate about
US-Pakistan ties, India is seldom mentioned. Our jihad sympathizers
relate their anti-Americanism to US actions against Muslims around the
world, without realistically examining whether shouting slogans for
our Arab brothers gains us any advantage in defending Pakistan against
India. Pakistan has traditionally sought American help in order to
stand up to India. If Pakistani anti-Americanism is not managed in a
way that the Americans do not see Pakistanis as enemies, India's
strategic advantage will continue to increase.
The US would become a force-multiplier for India in our region instead
of being a potential balancer that keeps India's anti-Pakistan moves
in check. We would be left holding anti-American demonstrations and
publishing anti-American diatribes while India will be the beneficiary
of US investment, defence deals and civil nuclear deal. Do we really
want that to happen? Or is it already too late to stop the very strong
ties, which have been built between India and the US? Let us take a
look.
In the Bush administration 18 Indian-Americans served in various
positions over the course of eight years compared with one Pakistani-
American. In the Obama administration 22 Indian-Americans are already
serving in senior positions (Assistant Secretary and above) and there
is one Governor (out of fifty US states) of Indian descent. Almost 200
Indian-Americans serve as Congressional staffers compared with 12
Pakistani-American, three of whom work for the same Congresswoman.
There are numerous State Department and Pentagon officials and at
least one the US Ambassador of Indian origin.
More than 100,000 Indian students are enrolled in US universities
compared with less than seven thousand Pakistanis. The number of
professors of Indian origin in the US is at least one hundred times
more than professors from Pakistan-totally disproportionate to the 1
to 7 population ratio.
The Indian Congressional caucus is three times as large as Pakistan's
and even the Chairwoman of the Pakistan caucus in the House of
Representatives is simultaneously a member of the India caucus. There
is hardly a US media organisation where Indian names are not prominent
whereas Pakistani journalists only make their noisy presence felt in
our own introverted media and that too only on domestic issues. Any
Pakistani who manages to earn respect of the Americans is immediately
denigrated as an American agent in Pakistan. The Indians, on the other
hand, see their countrymen as spreading Indian influence in America.
Ironically, India was historically never an American ally and did not
have the same level of aid (especially military assistance) from the
United States, as did Pakistan. So how did India transform itself into
a close partner after the cold war and Pakistan manage to become the
unhappy semi-ally? The question is relevant today because of what we
Pakistanis have become and what we have achieved over the years.
Pakistan is America's oldest ally in the region but Pakistan and the
US are more estranged today than they were at any time in history.
India was a Soviet ally till 1989 and yet India and the US have strong
economic and strategic ties.
The Indians appear to have realised early on that even if they did not
have security ties with the US building close ties at other levels was
important for the long-term. Pakistan did the reverse. While we were
recipients of large amounts of military aid, we did little to build a
presence in US academia or media. Our community remains focused on
getting attention in Pakistan and few Pakistani-Americans have earned
the stature in mainstream American intellectual or political life that
could translate into serious influence. Over time, US-based Indian
organizations have helped build close cultural and educational ties
between the two countries. Bollywood is now penetrating Hollywood
while there is little comparable Pakistani ingress.
The India-US nuclear deal is considered a defining moment for the
India-US relationship. Let us look at the reactions in India over the
Indo-US nuclear deal. The Congress-led government was in favour of the
nuclear deal but the Communist parties who were allied to the Congress
government at that time did not ideologically support the deal. There
was debate and discussion in the Parliament and in the Indian
electronic and print media for nine months. In the end when the left
parties and BJP decided to vote against the bill, the Congress
obtained the support of other smaller parties.
The government secured 275 votes in the 541 member Lok Sabha for the
India-US civil nuclear deal and their opponents secured 256 votes. The
left parties targeted the government for changing the traditional
policy of non-alignment and becoming too close to the United States
but it was through discussion and debate, not street demonstrations,
rubbishing America in the media or calling influential Indian-
Americans as CIA agents.
Also, the political leaders faced fire, not the Indian ambassador in
Washington and other officials who were following orders and doing
their job. Also during the entire controversy the Indian military did
not openly involve itself or say anything about the deal. And
throughout the entire period the Indian-American community was very
strongly behind the bill, they lobbied hard in the US for the passage
of the bill and they lobbied hard back home for the passage of the
bill in Parliament.
On the other side let us look at the Kerry-Lugar Bill controversy and
the way it played out both in Pakistan and amongst the Pakistani-
American community abroad. The strong anti-Americanism in Pakistan led
the initially pro-Kerry-Lugar Pakistani American community to become
silent. The debate in the Pakistani media was less a debate on
Pakistani policy options and more a hate campaign against the US.
Politicians attacked their own government; the army spoke out publicly
against the Kerry-Lugar-Berman Bill's contents; and once it became
clear that the US Congress would not change its views, the whole thing
subsided like foam at home even though offense had unnecessarily been
caused to American Congressmen.
Why is it that despite 54 years of close ties with the US Pakistan has
not been able to help build a relationship of influence in the US? Our
problem is that unfortunately we don't know how to influence others -
we only know how to abuse them. The Quaid dreamt of Pakistan being a
global power with influence all over the world. How does one build
Pakistan's global influence?
Pakistan's ability to change minds of global powers will be a source
of Pakistani influence; Not jihadis who will keep getting arrested and
keep Pakistan under watchful eye of major powers. And yet over the
decades every Pakistani who has tried to build close ties with the US,
like Sahibzada Yaqub Khan, Najmuddin Sheikh, Jehangir Karamat, Mahmud
Ali Durrani and Husain Haqqani, has been labeled as an American agent
rather than being seen as Pakistanis who can better communicate with
Americans in Pakistan's interest.
If India is about to win huge contracts and get heaped with praise
during the Manmohan Singh visit to Washington, Pakistanis need to
review how we have played our cards wrong for decades. And then, let
us work on a plan to change the relationship if for no other reason
than to deny our adversary the advantage of being the world's sole
superpower's sole South Asian partner.
Sadiq Saleem is a businessman and analyst based in Toronto, Canada. E-
mail: sadiqs...@gmail.com
Article Source : http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=210081