The United States should forge a broad-based relationship with Pakistan, support its democratic and economic development, bolster its counter-terrorism capability and help foster peace in the region by reducing tensions fuelling extremism, American experts urged on Thursday in a report recommending policy priorities toward Pakistan.
The report released by Pakistan Policy Working Group, comprising bipartisan members, says the next US administration "needs to rethink its entire approach" to the key South Asian country. The group, which was formed in January this year, observes in the report that emergence of democratically elected government in Pakistan and the upcoming November 4 US presidential election offer an opportunity to formulate policies and manage the "exceedingly important" relationship between the two countries.
Released in the wake of recent US violations of Pakistani territory and Islamabad's strong objections to unilateral actions, the report also cautions on the increased missile attacks being counterproductive to US long-term interests.
The 43-page report has been reviewed and endorsed by former US Deputy of State Richard Armitage and Lee Hamilton, former US Representative and Co-Chair of the 9-11 Commission. In order to ensure that US economic assistance for the Fata is effective, the US should encourage the Pakistani government to begin meaningful discussions about political liberalisation of the region, it says.
On enforcing border security, the authors claim the US may find it necessary to conduct unilateral strikes on militant targets in the tribal areas if they are not uprooted by Pakistan but also warn on repercussions of such actions.
"However, the US will need to be circumspect on the extent to which it relies on such strikes, recognising that each strike carries the cost of undermining US long-term objectives of stabilising Pakistan and preventing radical forces from strengthening in the country."
In the regional perspective, the United States "needs to exercise more patience with Pakistan and effect smarter and more robust diplomacy to reduce regional tensions that fuel support for radical ideologies and terrorism," the experts argue.
Asserting that formulating policy toward Pakistan will be a priority for the next American president in view of current challenges, the report advocates that "Washington needs to rethink its approach to Pakistan. If we genuinely believe that a stable, prosperous Pakistan is in our interest, we must be much smarter about how we work with Pakistan and what sort of assistance we provide."
"Political developments in both Pakistan and the United States, however, make this an opportune moment to recalibrate US policy. A new civilian government headed by the Pakistan People's Party has emerged in Pakistan, and President Pervez Musharraf has departed the scene after nine years of military rule. The upcoming US presidential election will similarly bring a new set of policymakers to power and a potential willingness to consider fresh approaches to managing the difficult but exceedingly important US Pakistan relationship," adds the report.
Experts advocate that Washington "exhibit patience with Pakistan's new democratically elected leaders, while working to stabilise the government through economic aid and diplomacy."
The report calls upon the US to "develop, invest in, and implement a far-reaching public diplomacy programme that emphasises common US and Pakistani interests in combating extremism, creating prosperity, and improving regional relationships instead of highlighting the struggle against extremism in Pakistan as part of the "Global War on Terrorism."
Among other things, the report proposes to "assign primary responsibility for co-ordinating and implementing Pakistan-Afghanistan policy to a senior US official with sufficient authority, accountability, and institutional capacity to promote better ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan and increase diplomatic efforts to encourage the bilateral peace process between New Delhi and Islamabad."
The report expresses support for the approach to US assistance for Pakistan as proposed in the Biden Lugar legislation, S.3263, "Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act of 2008," introduced on July 15, 2008, which commits to including $1.5 billion per year in non-military spending in each of the Administration's annual budget requests.
On the economic front, the policy report calls for enhancing "access of Pakistani textiles to the US market on favoured terms, starting with passage of the long-awaited Reconstruction Opportunity Zone legislation, and consider increasing the number of product lines included in that legislation."
The majority of US economic aid, it pleads, should focus on projects in basic education, health care, water resource management, law enforcement, and justice programmes, with the goal of developing state capacity to effectively deliver these services to the population. The US military assistance should focus on providing systems and training that enhance Pakistan's counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency capabilities, it proposes.
The group included Co-Chairs Kara L. Bue, Armitage International, L.C. Lisa Curtis, The Heritage Foundation and members Walter Andersen, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Stephen P. Cohen, The Brookings Institution, Xenia Dormandy, Harvard University, C. Christine Fair John A. Gastright, Jr., DynCorp International, Robert M. Hathaway, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Dennis Kux, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Daniel Markey, Council on Foreign Relations, Polly Nayak, Independent Consultant J Alexander Thier, United States Institute of Peace Marvin G. Weinbaum, The Middle East Institute and Rapporteur Nicholas Hamisevicz, The Heritage Foundation.