Time has come to wage peace, not war on Afghanistan: Maleeha

The time has come to wage peace and not war on Afghanistan by supporting the search for a negotiated settlement, as world centre of gravity iis shifting from west to east This was stated by Dr Maleeha Lodhi former ambassador to US and the UK, stressing that western pre-occupation on economic front has forced them to leave the rest and think of the west.
She was speaking in favour of the proposition "Given its Domestic and Strategic Vulnerabilities, Pakistan has no option but to support and participate in US-led War on Terror in Afghanistan" here on Thursday. She said that serious countries undertake entire gambit of relations not particular ties with the US, as the choices we make should be balanced (grey) not in black and white, where ground realities come into play.
Maleeha said that the western policy is shifting from war, as the objectives of the US war on terror were not achieved, adding the US has gone beyond war on terror with the elimination of Usama bin Laden and for this reason there are hints of US withdrawal in 2013.
Talking of domestic vulnerabilities, she said that economy is in dire strait this is because of deteriorating policy, as our external policies can redeem our internal weaknesses. If the foreign policy is not desirable to the people it will not achieve the desired results, she said, adding that we need structured economic reforms; have to address governance issues and overcome security problems. Hence, we need external policy that matches our internal policy, she maintained.
The 9/11 era is over and with that the 9/11 wars are being wound up, she said, adding that the US has already pulled out of Iraq and has set 2014 a deadline for drawdown of most Nato combat troops from Afghanistan, Maleeha opined. She felt a convergence in US police has emerged for the first time in a decade on seeking a political solution to end Afghan war by taking Pakistan on board and this afforded an opportunity to Pakistan active and energetic engagements to secure its goals of peace and security in the region minimising violence and drone strikes in Pakistan.
She recalled the devastation wrought by America misguided war on terror in the past ten years and questioned whether war was ever the appropriate response to terrorism. For this reason, the US entered direct talks with Taliban, perusing a path Pakistan had advocated ten years ago-a diplomatic path drawing distinction between al Qeada and the Taliban, she concluded.
Earlier, Inam Ul Haq, former foreign minister spoke in favour of the proposition, saying that we have to look at the Pak-US relations not taking into account denial and conspiracy theories. "How world looks at Pakistan: Pakistan is seeing third most unstable state in the world bracketed with Syria and Somalia; on human development index he said Pakistan is having 134th position; it is 83rd as far as business friendly countries are concerned.
Inam said above all this we have population problems, huge external debt, high inflation, high poverty, low foreign exchange reserve, poor governance and above all no rule of law. He was of the view eternally we are in a mess, in this dismal situation we will look at our relations with the US, whose defence outlay equals to that of the world. Every body knows when acute attack occurs it acts with arrogance it has flouted global laws, violated human rights and used biological weapons. For this purpose, it went for Iraq, and recently attack Afghanistan, he added.
Inam said in case of Pakistan, it escalated drone attacks, threaten ties with India, hence statecraft be based on ones on strength and then intend the road you want to take. He said that moving away could lead Pakistan to isolation, adding that will Nato, Japan, EU support Pakistan who will stand with us Russia, Africa, he questioned. He went on saying that the only country which will have some interest in case of Pakistan is China, but it has its own limitations, can we play China against US, China is neither a challenge to US power nor Pakistan saviour in difficult relations with US.Inam said that US is cementing relations with Asia-Pacific region and shifting to nation building. He said that if US leaves who is going to pay for Afghanistan reconstruction, when it leaves Afghanistan turned into a battle ground and with strong Northern Alliance at present it is not at all in favour of Pakistan.
During question-answer session most of the penalists were of the views that we need to disassociate ourselves to address things at home, as US policy is not static, it keeps on evolving, our and US interests are different in Afghanistan. US wants Pakistan to fight Taliban while it is negotiating with them, depicting its double standards asking as to do more, as we listen more obediently.