Pakistan optimistic for better ties in Obamas second term
Pakistans ambassador to the US, Sherry Rehman, has said that Pakistan wants better ties with US.
Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States, Sherry Rehman spoke exclusively to Dunya News and Roznama Dunya correspondent, Awais Saleem, in Washington, DC regarding the country’s expectations from the Obama administration after his re-election and the priority areas in the ongoing dialogue process after more than a year’s tension on the bilateral front.
Dunya News: The public opinion in Pakistan was quite divided on the possible outcome of the US presidential election, given the acrimony in the relationship during the last year or so. Was there any preference for the Pakistan government as well?
Ambassador Rehman: Look, in a democratic country where there is freedom of expression and media is independent too, we value everybody’s viewpoint. However, we had a neutral view regarding this election as the government. Like in this country, there is bipartisan consensus in Pakistan as well that we would work with democratic countries, whatever administration will come into power. Our effort will be to forge the relationship on mutual respect for a sustainable partnership, in order to solve our differences amicably and further the roadmap devised by the parliament for the betterment of our country and the people.
Dunya News: In pursuit of these goals, will the re-election of President Obama make a difference, particularly when Pakistan has invested a lot to build the relationship with the officials in his administration?
Ambassador Rehman: Diplomatic staff has to build a relationship with every government and all administrations. We indeed have good relations with the US government, their officials and the US society. We don’t want to end up in a situation where bitterness could resurface. When I took over as Ambassador almost a year ago, there was an air of misunderstanding on both sides. We have certainly moved past that and it is very encouraging that even here, people are listening to us on the basis of mutual respect and understanding on a consistent basis.
Dunya News: The last year or so in the Pak-US relations was dubbed as the ‘worst phase’ of the bilateral relations. Then we heard about both countries committing to the relationship and talking about new rules of engagement. Moving forward, what are Pakistan’s expectations from President Obama’s next tenure?
Ambassador Rehman: Our expectations from each other will remain more or less the same. Our priority is to present our viewpoint here not only before the government but also the general public through the available channels, including the media. Our stance will remain the same and we will look to safeguard Pakistan’s interests. We want to move forward with mutual respect and taking into consideration each other’s limitations. I think situation has changed a lot during last four months and this change has been positive. People in the governmental circles here have started to understand our viewpoint and there is also rebuilding of trust in Pakistan. Therefore, our expectations and priorities are attached with our national interest and will not be affected by the change of administration on either side. Both democratic governments will want to ensure the progress and prosperity of their people. This is not a unique goal. Our dialogue process in the Pak-US working groups is underway. We have moved beyond the difficult phase, but situation in the region always remains sensitive. We’ll have to watch and protect our own interests in the light of parliamentary recommendations.
Dunya News: The working groups have been meeting even before the US elections and it is a “work in progress”. What are Pakistan’s priority areas in this exercise?
Ambassador Rehman: We have identified five working groups with consensus of both sides. Several high level visits have taken place on both sides in this regard. The interior minister (Rehman Malik) visited Washington, DC for the last one on counterterrorism in October this year. Next, we look forward towards the working groups meeting in economic and well as energy sectors. This will deal with our infrastructure and energy needs. Then there are defense cooperation and strategic security etc, which are being discussed in separate working groups. Our effort will be to finish much of this work by the inauguration of the new administration in January 2013.
Dunya News: How will this process be affected by the retirement of Secretary Clinton, who is believed to be supportive towards the relationship with Pakistan even when others have spoken harshly about it?
Ambassador Rehman: Secretary Clinton is widely respected in Pakistan and you know that. She has done a lot of work for Pak-US relationship. Whosoever comes next in these official positions, it is much better to not say much about it. Our work, day in and day out, is quite diplomacy. I will only say that our effort – even with the new officials – will remain focused on improving the bilateral ties. The time of closed doors has passed. Even if there is some difficult phase, our job is to resolve it at the dialogue table in a rational manner. Even the US has a new envoy in Islamabad now. I believe both sides are sending out positive messages and we are moving towards a mature discourse. There are several issues pending and everything cannot be resolved at once, but the effort is to deal with everything through dialogue.
Dunya News: In this tenure of President Obama, there will be a lot of discussion about Afghanistan and the drawdown of forces in 2014. Do you think that the Pak-US cooperation regarding the future of Afghanistan is on the right track?
Ambassador Rehman: Pakistan’s policy towards Afghanistan is made clear time and time again from Islamabad and even here, when there is talk about the drawdown in 2014, the focus should be on working for Afghan stability. Whatever the Afghan government and Afghan people decide, it should be their formula because it is linked to their future. They have to take care of it. Instability in Afghanistan has direct implications for Pakistan. Our interest is in a broad-based relationship with Afghanistan, and to have good relations with all the groups present there, so that we can play a constructive role in the times to come. Even the US is now trying to achieve a political solution there. I don’t think anything is possible within a day, but we can offer our assistance as much as possible because border security is our concern too. There is a big regional conference on narcotics being held in Islamabad. It is very important to present our viewpoint as a stakeholder in the region to the entire world. Instability has very dire consequences in more ways than one. So Pakistan’s stance at the moment is that we want to create an environment for peace but it has to be Afghan led, by the government and people of that country. I, in particular, also want to see women right protected. We should do what we want in our country and Afghans have the right to decide about their country and their future. We don’t interfere but do play a constructive role in regional stability.
You have seen that we have even started dialogue and trading agreements with India. So as our strategic confidence and security increases, we want to invest in non-military solutions everywhere.
Dunya News: In defense-related issues, Pakistan has been very vocal against the drone attacks. In the second tenure of president Obama, do you see any changes in this policy?
Ambassador Rehman: We have always condemned these attacks and also voice the concerns and reservations of the Pakistani public in our security related dialogue and conversations (with the US). The stance on drones in unambiguous even at the governmental level and I am not talking about any assumptions here. It is not as if we have not stood-up against terrorism. Pakistan has given the most sacrifices in the war and we have also been clarifying this here, which is now being acknowledged too. The role of drones has become very controversial now. There comes a time when the effectiveness of the instrument you are using starts to decrease, instead of the destruction caused by it. Pakistan’s people and the government have a unanimous standpoint on this issue. We are very much against terrorism, and have in fact been the worst victims, although we don’t want to go into the victim narrative. We want to protect our homeland from both terrorism as well as drone warfare.
Dunya News: In your engagement so far with the US officials, what do you think is the single biggest challenge in the Pak-US relationship? What needs to be done to bridge the friction that is there?
Ambassador Rehman: The answer is in understanding each other viewpoint consistently. I must say both the governments have now reached a level where they understand each other better and the environment for talks is conducive. The biggest challenge for a democracy is that the people should be more understanding towards each other, minimize the reasons for misconceptions, and this is an enormous challenge. We can propose several possible remedies and devise roadmaps, which we have done, but there is no alternative for people-to-people contact and exchange of ideas in any culture.
Dunya News: There has been quite hectic high-level engagement between Pakistan and the US during the last few months. Are there any more visits in the pipeline?
Ambassador Rehman: This is a good thing to remain engaged as much as you can for the removal of misunderstandings. There might be some positions in which we don’t agree with each other, but if you are sincere at the negotiating table, then you do try and reach a solution. The meetings are already underway. When working groups meet, they discuss everything as per the given agenda. Even at the high level, we try to inch forward towards a better outcome after every meeting. We have reached this stage after overcoming many difficult scenarios and will continue our efforts to sustain this process. Democratic cultures always invest in dialogue, irrespective of elections on any side.
Dunya News: Are these efforts resulting in any enhanced flow of trade and investments towards Pakistan as well?
Ambassador Rehman: Yes indeed. You must have seen we did a conference recently in London, in which we created a sort of middle ground. Businessmen from the US as well Pakistan were there and we followed up on that with meeting in Pakistan, as many of the large textile groups are based in Karachi too. They are sending their expression of interest (EoI) now and we are going to take it up with the US trade representative. It is quite a uphill task to do this in an election environment in both the countries, which can sometimes shift focus, but I have to say that both governments have given this much concession to this relationship that the focus has not been allowed to drift and we are making steady headway. I think our better future lies in the trade and economic sectors. If we can push these forward, it will be like the public investment that generates employment opportunities, which is of utmost importance in Pakistan. This is the focus of the US as well now. They have also created a public-private investment partnership fund (for Pakistan), which is making good progress. I believe if we can find more such avenues, it will be good for both the countries as well as the masses on either side.
Dunya News: The US administration will obviously see a continuity for the next four years, what about our side? Will you still be doing this job after the 2013 elections in Pakistan?
Ambassador Rehman: Well, democratic countries have a bipartisan consensus (in foreign policy). You have seen a historic exercise in terms of the parliamentary recommendations to reset relationship with the US. This is a government that represents the people of the country and so will be the next one (after elections) whether it is our government or someone else. Therefore, I don’t think there will be much difference anyway.
