Pakistan gives US demands, but what now?
Pakistan has paved the way for NATO supply routes to reopen although the Islamic Republic has given the United States a string of demands, including the cessation of drone attacks. Islamabad also called for Washington to apologise for the deaths of 24 Pakistani soldiers killed by American air attacks.
While arms and munitions cannot transit through Pakistani territory, Islamabad has opened the door for the transit of vital food and fuel supplies for neighbouring Afghanistan. €We are a responsible nation,€ said Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani. €We know our obligations as well as the importance of the United States.€
A spokeswoman for America's State Department, Victoria Nuland, praised the €seriousness€ of the Parliament's debate and added, €We seek a relationship with Pakistan that is enduring, strategic and more clearly defined. We look forward to discussing these policy recommendations.€
While this may signal a more pragmatic chapter in US-Pakistani relations, each country's view of the other remains suspicious. Pakistan has also sought to increase ties with China, Russia and Europe. The country remains deeply antagonistic towards its neighbour India, in spite of the recent lifting of trade and foreign investment restrictions.
While it may be in Pakistan's interest to develop closer ties with the Kremlin, owing to that country's strong arms-selling relationship with India, the chances of deepening Pakistan-Russia ties are not good. Russia has no real interest in Pakistan €" it certainly serves no strategic purpose for Moscow.
Aside from its old ally the UK €" with whom Pakistan has very good reasons to remain close with €" stronger relations with the EU are unlikely to bear little fruit. The Eurozone is in a profoundly weak state, with coming demographic and economic battles the likes of which are not yet apparent. For many in Europe, Pakistan is a distant land with no real purpose except as a major source of non-European immigrants.
There is more logic to closer ties with China, primarily because the latter is still projected to overtake the United States in economic terms within the decade. But Islamabad should know that China has no real emotional tie to Pakistan.
If anything, much as America has got close to India to repel China, so too China has got close to Pakistan and other South Asian countries, as a buffer against Indian influence in Asia. It is, of course, very unlikely that relations between India and Pakistan will significantly thaw in the near future. But a closer relationship with Beijing will almost certainly undermine any attempt at reconciliation with Delhi.
Pakistan as a major Muslim country obviously has strong ties with the Islamic world. In recent years Pakistan has drawn closer to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf. This has however come within the context of a resurgent pan-Islamic political identity. Pakistanis are not culturally Arabic so there will always be limitations to how far Pakistan can draw close to the Arab League or Gulf Cooperation Council.
Pakistan remains a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. Aside from the inheritance of the English language, common law and parliamentary system, Pakistan has cemented its ties with Commonwealth Realm countries such as the UK and Canada, with a significant diaspora in those countries.
Putting Britain aside, other countries in the Commonwealth €" such as Canada and Australia €" are probably the healthiest Western economies going into the next few decades. It may well be in Pakistan's interests to draw closer to a pan-Anglophone union of nations with common legal and political systems, alongside closer ties with the Middle East or China.
Pakistan's 177 million-strong population live in a country which is desperately under-developed. Economic dynamism in the 1950s gave way to decades of sclerosis, largely due to political mismanagement and corruption. Pakistan is today the most corrupt country in South Asia. It scores low for human and economic development.
Pakistan's relationship with the US continues to be challenging. While the US has more need for India as a buffer for China than for Pakistan, a country it often sees as a conduit for terrorism, Pakistan (rightly or wrongly) too often sees US influence as malign and operating through institutions like US Aid and the IMF. This is unlikely to change in the near future.
While arms and munitions cannot transit through Pakistani territory, Islamabad has opened the door for the transit of vital food and fuel supplies for neighbouring Afghanistan. €We are a responsible nation,€ said Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani. €We know our obligations as well as the importance of the United States.€
A spokeswoman for America's State Department, Victoria Nuland, praised the €seriousness€ of the Parliament's debate and added, €We seek a relationship with Pakistan that is enduring, strategic and more clearly defined. We look forward to discussing these policy recommendations.€
While this may signal a more pragmatic chapter in US-Pakistani relations, each country's view of the other remains suspicious. Pakistan has also sought to increase ties with China, Russia and Europe. The country remains deeply antagonistic towards its neighbour India, in spite of the recent lifting of trade and foreign investment restrictions.
While it may be in Pakistan's interest to develop closer ties with the Kremlin, owing to that country's strong arms-selling relationship with India, the chances of deepening Pakistan-Russia ties are not good. Russia has no real interest in Pakistan €" it certainly serves no strategic purpose for Moscow.
Aside from its old ally the UK €" with whom Pakistan has very good reasons to remain close with €" stronger relations with the EU are unlikely to bear little fruit. The Eurozone is in a profoundly weak state, with coming demographic and economic battles the likes of which are not yet apparent. For many in Europe, Pakistan is a distant land with no real purpose except as a major source of non-European immigrants.
There is more logic to closer ties with China, primarily because the latter is still projected to overtake the United States in economic terms within the decade. But Islamabad should know that China has no real emotional tie to Pakistan.
If anything, much as America has got close to India to repel China, so too China has got close to Pakistan and other South Asian countries, as a buffer against Indian influence in Asia. It is, of course, very unlikely that relations between India and Pakistan will significantly thaw in the near future. But a closer relationship with Beijing will almost certainly undermine any attempt at reconciliation with Delhi.
Pakistan as a major Muslim country obviously has strong ties with the Islamic world. In recent years Pakistan has drawn closer to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf. This has however come within the context of a resurgent pan-Islamic political identity. Pakistanis are not culturally Arabic so there will always be limitations to how far Pakistan can draw close to the Arab League or Gulf Cooperation Council.
Pakistan remains a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. Aside from the inheritance of the English language, common law and parliamentary system, Pakistan has cemented its ties with Commonwealth Realm countries such as the UK and Canada, with a significant diaspora in those countries.
Putting Britain aside, other countries in the Commonwealth €" such as Canada and Australia €" are probably the healthiest Western economies going into the next few decades. It may well be in Pakistan's interests to draw closer to a pan-Anglophone union of nations with common legal and political systems, alongside closer ties with the Middle East or China.
Pakistan's 177 million-strong population live in a country which is desperately under-developed. Economic dynamism in the 1950s gave way to decades of sclerosis, largely due to political mismanagement and corruption. Pakistan is today the most corrupt country in South Asia. It scores low for human and economic development.
Pakistan's relationship with the US continues to be challenging. While the US has more need for India as a buffer for China than for Pakistan, a country it often sees as a conduit for terrorism, Pakistan (rightly or wrongly) too often sees US influence as malign and operating through institutions like US Aid and the IMF. This is unlikely to change in the near future.
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