The US Centcom seems closer to the Afghan realities than their US State Department counterparts and instead of hurling ‘notices’ and slur on Pakistan, they are speaking with mind and sanity. Though they cannot do anything with aid suspension decisions, they have conveyed to their Pakistani counterparts that no unilateral action on their territory is on their list of options as the impression was being conveyed by the hostile statements of President Donald Trump and State Department officials. The telephone call to Army Chief Gen Qamar Bajwa from Centcom Commander Gen Joseph Votel, whose details were shared by the Inter-Services Public Relation (ISPR) on Friday, is a welcome step, and it will shed misunderstanding lurking on either side after the tweet by Donald Trump on Jan 1, calling Pakistan liar and deceitful.
According to the ISPR, besides Gen Votel, a senator, whose name was not disclosed, also called the army chief, to boil down the tensions and to maintain a level security cooperation. Right after the tweet, Defence Minister Khurram Dastigir, in a tit-for-tat tweet, had announced suspending all intelligence and logistical ties with the US, and its heat might have been felt by the State Department and Pentagon. The senator might have spoken on behalf of the diplomatic circles of the US, who are most of the time at unease because of the impulsive, out-of-blue tweets by President Donald Trump. His recent tweets calling African nations as shitholes have put the American administration at the centre of embarrassment.
The conversation between the two sides focused on three things: the ups and downs in the ties are soon going to be over; the US plans no unilateral action against Pakistan on its soil, and that both sides should continue cooperating with each other. The three areas must offer a sigh of relief to the General Headquarters and the Pakistan Foreign Office, especially the comment by US Central Command Spokesperson Colonel John Thomas that ‘we value mutual understanding of interests and concerns that we need to consider and might lead to a positive path forward”.
Gen Bajwa has mastered the art of military diplomacy well, and during the conversation, he also conveyed the true sentiments of the nation that Pakistan did not want the aid anymore at the cost of losing self-respect but it would continue cooperation with the US in its war against terrorism for it was in the benefit of its own people. Pakistan through its action has also proven its commitment. The Operation Raddul Fassad is one such effort to defeat terrorists. Its several measures to secure the border controls unilaterally also speak volume, whereas Afghanistan has been opposed to the border management because of its reservations over accepting the Durand Line as the international border.
The communication is a welcome thaw in relations between the two countries. Pakistan, however, must address some of the growing concerns of the US, Afghanistan and other allies regarding the sanctuaries of militants on its soil. Though border controls are working, still there are gaps where from the militants can infiltrate easily because of their sympathizers in border areas.
More cooperation between the US and Pakistan could easily chase and kill the militants.
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