Regional integration has remained a pipedream of the policymakers and the people of South Asia since the visionary idea of Saarc was floated in 1985. Periodic conferences including regular summits of heads of state/government have produced nothing tangible in spite of piling up tons of statements, declarations and agreements on a vast variety of subjects including terrorism, trade and cultural ties.
The time has come to move from diplomatic language to concrete action to place South Asia on the map of regional organisations. It is sorely disheartening to note that our region has lagged far behind other areas of the world in the field of regional co-operation. As it is pointless to cry over wasted time or spilt milk the nations of South Asia are left with no choice but to join hands and team up immediately for shared peace and development.
There is no need to dig into extraneous reasons for the painfully slow progress in giving some semblance of collective substance to one of the most populated regions of the world. It is more than obvious that the region has immense potential to compete with other parts of the earth provided the leaders rise in unison to place the horse before the cart. Priorities have to be placed in the right sequence. Without mincing words it is imperative to argue that trade above security is the only way forward considering the stunning problems facing more than one fifth of humanity.
West Asia and Central Asia cannot realise their untapped potential if South Asia remains dormant and in deep slumber. The present century can become an Asian century only if South Asia wakes up and takes destiny in its own hands.
New hopes have sprung in the form of Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) and Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipelines. These gas pipelines if materialised can change the destiny of this region and the world. Flow of energy from one region to the other will cement the bonds of friendship and economic co-operation in the most promising region of the planet.
The TAPI and IPI gas transmission lines under consideration are super highways to regional integration, peace and prosperity. These two mega projects, however, face colossal hurdles. TAPI is handicapped by the precarious law and order situation in war-torn Afghanistan although the major world powers are not opposed to this international flow of energy. It is the IPI project, which has invited the outdated ire of the United States. Washington has warned Pakistan and India to give up this plan because it is a "bad idea". In order to punish Iran over it's alleged pursuit of nuclear power the Western nations led by the lone superpower have slapped stringent sanctions on Iran and are simultaneously exerting tremendous pressure on Pakistan, in particular, to keep off the Iranian oil and gas. As the stakes are extremely high for energy-starved Pakistan, the IPI project has placed the latter in a defining point in time.
Choices for Pakistan and the US
US-Pakistan relations have witnessed numerous ups and downs since the partition of the Indian sub-continent in 1947. The cold war followed by the war on terror has taken a heavy toll on the sustainability of the US-Pakistan friendship. Both nations have been the most allied allies of each other for decades. The two countries today stand at the dreaded crossroads at a critical time when the US-led Nato forces are planning to leave Afghanistan after more than a decade of occupation, after the 9/11 assault on the World Trade Centre.
Now if the US puts pressure and succeeds in forcing Pakistan to give up plans to import gas and electricity from Iran, the consequences for the two countries and the region are doomed to be disastrous. US arm-twisting on this issue will fuel intense anti-Americanism, which will lead to more terrorism than America may have calculated. Pakistan's energy sector will face acute shortages leading to fatal pressure on the war-affected economy. Additionally, chances of regional integration of the economies of South Asia and Central Asia will become bleak. More poverty in this region will mean bad news for Washington as well.
Americans are wrong if they insist in arguing that the Iran-Pakistan pipeline is "bad news". Conversely, the reverse is true as failure to connect the energy fields of Iran with Pakistan and India will make this region, including the oil-rich Middle East, fertile for anti-Americanism, unrest and instability. Needless to add that the US can ill-afford to ignite chaos in such a strategic location of the world. Our American friends need to understand that the IPI is as useful as the TAPI for promoting peace and defeating terrorism both of which are apparently tall pillars of the US foreign policy.
The IPI and TAPI are two integral components of a win-win strategy for all the stakeholders including the United States. Failure to understand the indispensable linkage between peace and development will spell disaster for all countries of the world.
Pakistan can serve as bridge between Washington and Tehran as Islamabad successfully bridged differences between Washington and Peking in 1970.
Pakistan and the US need each other because the two are allies against the long war on the terrorist threat to democracy. It is imperative therefore that the policymakers in the corridors of power in Washington maintain friendship with Islamabad and vice versa. A friendly Pakistan besides serving itself will bring rich dividends to our allies in Europe and across the Atlantic. Controversial drone attacks and traditional US meddling in the internal affairs of Pakistan have already turned decades of amity into hostility.
The IPI and TAPI will also bring India and Pakistan together on one page and eliminate the threat of a nuclear winter, which will remain a distinct possibility if the two nuclear-armed nations do not step back from the disastrous precipice.
The extremist surge in Pakistan and the region has been precipitated partly by flawed US policies. Encouraged by the imminent US withdrawal from Afghanistan, militant groups in Pakistan and Afghanistan have launched a powerful campaign to regroup and issue warnings to Islamabad and Washington. This dangerous trend can be arrested by Pak-US co-operation, which has come under intense stress following recent developments.
Positive developments
The third tripartite Pak-Afghan-Iran summit has raised new hopes of emergence of regional co-operation. As a complementary process Pakistan and India have signed three trade agreements recently giving fresh impetus to the stalled peace process in South Asia. These positive developments have laid the groundwork for materialisation of the TAPI and IPI projects. Under these hopeful circumstances, the United States can be convinced to agree that the TAPI and IPI initiatives will serve national interests of all the stakeholders who are interested in the peace and prosperity of mankind.
Pakistan's acute energy needs cannot be left at the mercy of outsiders whose global interests may not converge with our own. This is a moment which has to be seized come what may. If America succeeds in blocking the IPI project Pakistan and the former will have to forget friendship for all times to come.
Pakistan has been a trusted ally of the United States for over six decades during the cold war as well as the war on terror. Now is the time to test the sincerity and friendship of our war time allies. The ball lies in the US court. Regional integration is a foundation stone of our foreign policy as envisioned in PPP Manifesto 2008 which can be boosted by the TAPI and IPI gas delivery lines. Our four immediate neighbours are as important to our survival as Canada and Mexico are essential to the security of the United States. The USA need not dither and stand in the way of democracy and peaceful progress through integration of this region. The United States has a unique opportunity to wash the ugly slur of imperialism from it's face by supporting traditional friends including Pakistan and Iran instead of erecting hurdles in the way of human progress. It is the best and perhaps the last opportunity for America to gain the high moral ground rather than slipping into the dust bin of inhumanity.