President Musharraf’s just concluded visit to the United States seems to have been propitiously timed. During three eventful days, the President received several assurances from President Bush and Capitol Hill that a new era in US-Pakistan relations has dawned - one which has demonstrable prospects of proving enduring and lasting. It was reassuring for most Pakistanis to hear President Bush reiterate unequivocally that the friendship between the two countries would not be “a short-term dance.” And his argument sounded both convincing and cogent as he explained: “The forces of history have accelerated the growth of friendship between the United States and Pakistan…I want to remind people in Pakistan to think about the future and not dwell in the past…I want to remind people from Pakistan that I didn’t mention many world leaders in the State of the Union Address. But I mentioned President Musharraf for a reason. And that is an indication of my developing a strong and meaningful relationship…When we say we are committed, we are committed. And we are committed to maintain peace in the region.” He described President Musharraf as “a leader of great courage and vision,” and rightly so.
While these words are reassuring and seem to herald a new chapter in Pakistan-US relations, Washington’s somewhat lukewarm response to President Musharraf’s ‘wish list’ is truly disconcerting. Pakistan has suffered a major setback on the economic front following its decision to team up with the Coalition to launch a war against terrorism in neighboring Afghanistan. Its losses approximate two billion dollars with foreign investors packing up and leaving the country and the exports nose-diving at a staggering scale. As a result, a million bread-earners in the country are precariously perched and could lose their means of livelihood if the downward trend does not lose its momentum. Even the Pak-US trade has become stagnant and it is difficult to perceive how a turn-about could take place with the meager concessions granted to textile exporters following President Musharraf’s visit. The debt relief promised also falls short of the three billion dollar figure proposed by Pakistan. Thus Islamabad will be faced with an uphill task as it braces to face the fallout of the war against terrorism. The peanut assistance provided by Washington and its allies could hardly prove effective in tiding over Pakistan’s economic woes.
It is against this background that the role of Pakistani investors and businessmen and their corporate partners on the American scene assumes special importance. It is incumbent upon the Pakistanis living in America, who have more than a nodding acquaintance with the American continent, to tax their mind and resources and come up with workable schemes which could bring about a wholesome change in Pakistan. The Pakistani Embassy and its consulates in different cities of the US too have to play an active and sustained role in galvanizing the community which is spread over the length and breadth of the United States. One wonders if the Embassy has the will or competence to play this important role given the performance of its staffers in arranging President Musharraf’s address in Washington. According to some reports, the President was deprived a chance to meet Pakistani Americans who have made their mark in the American corporate world and are especially qualified to launch well-meaning bilateral programs between the two countries. The Ambassador and her staffers should be cognizant of the fact that their responsibilities extend beyond the formalistic exercise of indulging in jovial tittle tattles or prattling with the exuberant nouveau riche members of the community.
On the political front, Washington’s interest in seeking a resolution of the Kashmir dispute on the negotiating table is a welcome sign and an indicator that it would not be inclined to remain a bystander if the conflict develops into a full-fledged India-Pakistan conflagration in the South Asia subcontinent. The suggestion of a dialogue to resolve the crisis is a subtle, toned down criticism of India’s policy of steadfastly refusing to enter into a dialogue on Kashmir on one decorous pretext or another.
Also gratifying is Washington’s support for the education sector in Pakistan. Bolstering efforts in this area can bring about all-round change in the country: both the rural and the urban parts of Pakistan stand to gain from this initiative, particularly the former and the long list of aspirants whose inborn urging to acquire education needs no fresh enunciation.
All in all, the visit appears to be a good omen for future US-Pakistan relations, a crowning effort of President Musharraf’s sustained initiatives to rescue Pakistan - politically, economically, diplomatically and socially. In the words of Kuldip Nayyer, well-known columnist for The Hindu, one of India’s leading newspapers, “The Pakistani President, Pervez Musharraf, can pat himself on the back for the position he has won for his country in the West…Today, both the Senate and the US Congress have commended him by passing a unanimous resolution.”