A new President has taken over in Washington D.C. with a sincere desire to bring order to Af-Pak region and take back his soldiers fighting in an alien land with doubtful returns.
It is not unusual for a new Head of State to assume that his predecessor had erred in judgment, particularly when the going is getting tough, and re-do it in his own way. In the process, most of the lessons learnt in the past 4 or 5 years are sent to archives.
That is how the month of May saw a `new’ approach of Barack Obama’s policy on Pakistan, which is actually not new as it was the same that previous Presidents Carter, Nixon and Clinton did during their terms. Give more money and leave it to the Pakistan Army to deliver. Fair enough. Obama has four years to see where his `new’ policy is going.
In the meantime, his arms sellers are happy as Pakistan would be placing orders to buy modern equipment with American defence manufacturing companies. Europe too would be happy as they too could share the left overs.
As victorious Zardari’s team prepared to leave Washington having bagged assurances of $ 1.5 billion a year aid and additional military assistance, none other than the flamboyant President Sarkozy was in waiting at Paris. Soon after landing at the Paris Charles de Gaulle International Airport, Zardari sent in an urgent message for Army Chief Gen. Kayani to arrive at once. And he came posthaste.
Gen. Kayani is said to have given detailed briefings to his French hosts on Pakistan plans to push out the Taliban from Malakand and other FATA areas, which was actually becoming a serious threat to Pakistani nation. So impressed was President Sarkozy, he immediately agreed to Zardari-Kayani request for help to thwart the Taliban from capturing nuclear weapons. He also offered nuclear cooperation and equipment on lines India had with the US.
SUBMARINES TO FIGHT TALIBAN..?
As the old saying goes, when France catches cold the whole Europe starts sneezing. Germany is not far behind. Gen. Kayani was given a royal reception when he reached Berlin on June 18. He held meetings with top defence authorities’ ton submarines. According to Pak media, the talks centred on the price and stuck a favourable deal. Germans seems to have been convinced that there is an urgent need to supply submarines to Pakistan to defeat the Taliban ‘hiding in the land-locked mountainous areas of the FATA region of the North West Frontier.
Where is the money coming from? The latest budget presented by the Pakistani Finance Minister showed precarious financial position. Deficit is soaring. Expected American and other foreign aid is still in pipeline though it has been factored into expenditure plans.
Pakistan has already made plans on what to do with the money now being rolled out by foreign donors. And the American and European defence companies are eagerly waiting for Pak orders to lift them out of recession.
A win-win situation for the US and Europe on one side and Pakistan on the other. Taliban can take a temporary `beating retreat’ for re-entry at an opportune time.
