Imran’s Pakistan and Trump’s US: will the twain ever meet?
Imran Khan’s victory speech took his fans and critics by surprise. From tone and tenor to content and timing, it seemingly hit the chords. The man’s unworthy critics have long compared him to US President Donald Trump. There seems little correlation, even for the sake of the pun.
His domestic appeal notwithstanding, the international media has projected him as the front man of Pakistan’s deep state. The 65-year-old has been called Taliban Khan for advocating the idea of political dialogue with the deadly militia. His opposition to US drone strikes in the country’s tribal areas won him praise in the Washington-bashing Iranian media.
A new era dawned on July 26 for Imran Khan, his political party and, possibly, Pakistan. If his post-election speech can be any guide, there are vivid references to the future course of action. Much like Barack Obama, Imran aspires to bring structural changes to the country’s pursuit of national interest and national wealth.
Over the past five years, the Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) approach to foreign policy and strategic matters in parliament has been anything but coherent and consistent with the country’s national interests and allies. For instance, the PTI supremo, who used to openly call Syria’s Bashar al-Assad a butcher and mass murderer until 2013, has kept mum over the atrocities committed by the tyrant and his foreign partners in crime.
With Shireen Mazari and Arif Alvi, Pakistan’s incumbent ruling party will be fiercely divided on issues where it matters the most. The so-far dominant anarchist bloc has favored a tougher policy towards the United States, for instance.
Had the shadow government done its job a little seriously, the party would have had a team of informed legislatures vital for the formulation of a coherent foreign and security policy. Except China’s, diplomats from important capitals remain skeptical about the PTI’s likely foreign policy.
The party’s manifesto was a departure from its incoherent and rash approach to foreign policy. The document was largely regarded as a compilation of fancy ideas with little real interest to pursue them even if it were chosen to form the government. Imran’s maiden speech followed up on the party manifesto. Thus, the most vocal and influential critic of Washington in Islamabad hit a reconciliatory tone in Thursday's speech.
Much like Barack Obama, Imran aspires to bring structural changes to the country’s pursuit of national interest and national wealth.
Naveed Ahmad
“With the US, we want to have a mutually beneficial relationship ... up until now, that has been one-way, the US thinks it gives us aid to fight their war ... we want both countries to benefit. We want a balanced relationship.”
In response came an encouraging response from across the Atlantic: “As Pakistan’s elected leaders form a new government, the United States will look for opportunities to work with them to advance our goals of security, stability, and prosperity in South Asia.”
After drone strikes in Waziristan and Pakistan’s other tribal areas have become a thing of the past and the US is supporting political dialogue with the Taliban, the atmospherics have pretty much improved.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s gray listing by the Financial Action Task Force puts pressure on her for compliance in order to exploit the country's true investment potential.
Like most European and East Asian countries, America sees the China factor in Pakistan as a hurdle for bilateral relations including investment and technological cooperation. Islamabad deepened its Beijing ties after the Obama administration’s enthusiastic embrace of Delhi. Obama's "pivot to Asia" doctrine has the unique distinction of not having been reversed by the Trump presidency.
As much as the Indo-US strategic and diplomatic cooperation, for the most part, is detrimental to Pakistan’s national interest, it is not open for debate with Islamabad. The influential India lobby in the US will remain a key factor in the resumption of a frank and friendly dialogue with Pakistan beyond cooperation in Afghanistan and counter-terror operations. Imran Khan will be stigmatized as the front-man of Pakistan’s armed forces.
Addressing such complex challenges requires a skillful team of diplomats and lobbyists which are hard to come by in Imran Khan’s PTI. Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Dr Shahzad Waseem, former foreign minister and senator respectively, could bring the sanity the country’s new government requires. Imran’s rapprochement to the US is vital in addressing Pakistan’s external economic woes such as delisting from the FATF and attracting Western foreign investment.
– Naveed Ahmad is an investigative journalist and academic based in the GCC with a career in writing on diplomacy, security and governance. Besides other honors, he won the Jefferson Fellowship in 2000 and UNAOC Cross-Cultural Reporting Award 2010. Twitter: @naveed360
