Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's three-day official visit to the United States is not going to prove to be a major breakthrough in Pak-US relations as Washington has lost interest in the region, say analysts and opposition members in parliament. Dr Hasan Askari Rizvi, a political analyst, stated that the Prime Minister's visit is going to be a mixed bag and people should not pin high hopes on it.
The US economic assistance under the Coalition Support Fund and Kerry-Lugar Bill has virtually come to an end and the prime minister may try to get another financial package from Washington, he said. On Pakistan-India relations, he said the Prime Minister should convince the US officials to pressurize India to resume dialogue process and resolve all outstanding issues as early as possible.
"We hope the Prime Minister's visit will fetch a few positive things for us but definitely it's not going to be a major breakthrough in the Pak-US relations," he said. PTI Member National Assembly Asad Umar argued the prime minister should have taken parliament into confidence about his visit to the US as this would have added credibility and support to his stance on different issues that he may raise during the visit.
"The prime minister has missed an historic opportunity by ignoring the parliament," he said, "a unanimous resolution passed by the parliament would have strengthened the Prime Minister's stance on sensitive issues like civil-nuclear technology." Listing different agenda items that could be part of the Prime Minister's schedule in the United States, Umer said the PM should try his best to persuade the US businessmen to invest in different sectors in Pakistan.
"The US investment in Pakistan has almost dried up," he said, adding the US was one of the biggest investors in Pakistan till 2007 but the position is quite different now. Umar said Pakistan offers tremendous investment opportunities in different sectors and the US businessmen can invest in energy, agriculture, telecom and automobile sectors.
The prime minister should also take up the Afghan issue with officials in the White House as the US still has its military presence in the volatile country and can help Pakistan overcome its security issues, he said. "The US can play an important role in bridging differences between Pakistan and Afghanistan and we should push them for it," he said. Umar said the Prime Minister should brief US officials of Indian activities in different parts of Pakistan and seek their help to dissuade India from doing so. "The prime minister should present evidence of Indian involvement in different terror activities in Pakistan to elicit US support," he said.
Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Senator Taj Haider said the US can play a vital role in resolving the Kashmir issue by pressing India to hold a plebiscite in the Indian-held Kashmir as promised in the United Nations. "The prime minister should not mince words while speaking of Indian involvement in terror activities in Pakistan," he said, adding the Prime Minister's recent speech in the United Nations General Assembly was a poor show.
The US help and investment in the energy sector could help Pakistan bridge the supply and demand gap, he said, adding the energy demand has been increasing by 8 percent annually. "The electricity deficit in the country could jump to 10,000 megawatts by 2020 and we should seek US investment to overcome it," he said. Haider, however, was not supportive of a civil-nuclear technology deal with the US arguing that it would take at least seven to eight years to materialise even after the formal agreement. "We can't wait for years, we need energy now," he said, suggesting the prime minister should seek US assistance on the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline as this could help minimise the energy problems in the long term.
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