11/23/2019 Foreign Policy of Pakistan | Zubeida Mustafa

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Religious politics
October 10, 2019 Administration, Foreign Policy of Pakistan, Guest Contributor, History,
Islamisation Zubeida Mustafa
By Rifaat Hamid Ghani

                    Of course Muslims feel that Islam is one as conveyed by its Holy Prophet (PBUH) in Quranic
revelation, and concretized by his exemplary life. But apart from podium oratory, reality demands the
qualification that, as apparent in contemporary practice, this singleness emerges in the fact of
variously distinct manifold ‘ones’: individual understanding and schools of interpretation are
separate and differ.

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Trump Leaves Afghanistan and

Pakistan at His Mercy
September 12, 2019 Defence and Disarmament, Foreign Policy of Pakistan, Human Rights,
International Politics, War and Peace Zubeida Mustafa
By Zubeida Mustafa

The Doha talks between the United States and the Taliban to work out a peace deal to end
Afghanistan’s 18-year conflict began with a whimper a year ago. They ended Saturday with a
presidential tweet from the White House that was no less than a bang that resounded around a
startled world.

Having come so close to a peace deal, it was difficult to understand why President Donald Trump and
thus the U.S. backed off. True, an American soldier was killed in an attack by the Taliban last week
along with a Romanian soldier and 10 Afghan civilians. But 15 U.S. soldiers have been killed since the
Doha talks began, and the Taliban had yet to formally renounce violence.

Most shaken by the turn of events in the peace process were the Taliban leaders themselves and their
patrons in Pakistan.  It had been a Herculean task to bring the killers of 2,300 American and 45,000
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Afghan soldiers and 32,000 Afghan civilians to the negotiating table. Then they had to be persuaded
to agree in principle to a peace process for power sharing. Some loose ends still had to be tied up, but
there was hope. Credit for this goes to the tireless shuttle diplomacy spread over nine months by the
Afghan-born American diplomat, Zalmay Khalilzad. He has been strangely silent in the last two days.

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Trump’s Ignorance Touches Off a New

Crisis in Kashmir
August 15, 2019 Defence and Disarmament, Foreign Policy of Pakistan Zubeida Mustafa
By Zubeida Mustafa

South Asia is again in crisis and could be on the brink of war. For the second time in six months, the
world is on tenterhooks, waiting to see what turn events will take. Because the two antagonists are
armed with nuclear weapons, the possibility of a confrontation is taken seriously. And as has
happened before, Kashmir is at the center of the dispute that has kept India and Pakistan at
loggerheads for over 70 years.

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US-Pakistan relations at a razor’s edge

November 8, 2018 Defence and Disarmament, Economy, Foreign Policy of Pakistan, History,
International Politics Zubeida Mustafa

The Torkham border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan. (Wikimedia Commons)
Truthdig is proud to present this article as part of its Global Voices: Truthdig Women Reporting, a series
from a network of female correspondents around the world who are dedicated to pursuing truth within
their countries and elsewhere.

By Zubeida Mustafa

A sober anniversary last month reminded us of the U.S. attack on Afghanistan that took place on Oct.
7, 2001, in the wake of 9/11. The consequences of that American invasion were severe for Afghanistan,
but the impact also crossed the long border shared with Pakistan.

Both Afghanistan and Pakistan continue to stagger under the effects of an international conflict that
extends back almost four decades. It is generally believed across the world that the Soviet Union
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triggered that conflict when it invaded Afghanistan in 1979. But we now know better, thanks to an
admission in 1998 by Zbigniew Brzezinski, Jimmy Carter’s national security adviser. Brzezinski said
Afghanistan became a flashpoint when he and the then-president sent “freedom fighters” from
Pakistan into Afghanistan to force the Soviets to defend the Afghan government. Gen. Zia ul-Haq, the
military dictator who ruled Pakistan at the time, went along with this scheme to break out of the
isolation he found himself in a er he ordered the hanging of former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

Today, Pakistan and the U.S. face a stalemate in Afghanistan. Since President Donald Trump
announced his South Asian strategy in August 2017, relations between the two countries have cooled
visibly. Trump’s strategic plan put new pressure on Pakistan to stop protecting terrorists on the
Pakistani-Afghan border.

Islamabad denies that terrorists enjoy sanctuary in Pakistan. It claims militants causing devastation
in Afghanistan and destabilizing that country have done so on the Afghan side of the border a er they
were driven out of Pakistan. But deadly incidents contradict that claim—just last month, a prominent
Afghan police chief was assassinated by a young man who had trained with the Taliban in Pakistan.

In 2017, Pakistan began to build a fence on its 1,600-mile border with Afghanistan. The $532 million
fence is expected to be completed next year. The Pakistan army claims this elaborate barrier will
prevent terrorists from infiltrating the Durand Line, which has always been a porous border. But will it
check infiltration? Skeptical observers doubt it because the border is dotted with tunnels that
terrorists have used when border crossings became difficult.

A quick visit to the region by then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in October 2017, as a follow-up to
Trump’s August announcement, confirmed that all was not well between Washington and Islamabad.
The two sides were courteous, but each maintained its stance. Tillerson presented Pakistan with a list
of names of supposed terrorists, who were to be handed over to the American army. If Islamabad
didn’t comply, it was to suffer undisclosed consequences. Pakistan, as usual, denied the existence of
terrorist havens on its soil.

A key change in the geopolitical situation in this region occurred in mid-August of this year when a
new government was installed in Islamabad (led by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, or PTI), but that has not
turned the tide of international politics in Southwest Asia.

A hectic round of diplomacy between Pakistan and the U.S. since the election has been
counterproductive. In early September, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo made a five-hour stopover
in Islamabad, which appears to have been a scouting mission to assess the PTI’s approach to strategic
issues in the region. It does not appear that any progress resulted.

Last month, acting U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Henry Ensher told The Wilson Center in Washington
his government would continue to pressure Pakistan to “change its policy toward regional peace and
stability.”

Another exercise in diplomacy proved futile last month when Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood
Qureshi was in the U.S. to attend a United Nations General Assembly session. His second meeting with
Pompeo—this time at the White House—did not even produce a joint statement, so far apart were the
two sides in their views on the region.

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The deadlock is rooted in the two countries’ differing perceptions of Afghanistan and India.
Washington wants to make India the key regional player in the Great Afghanistan Game. The U.S. has
forged close economic relations with New Delhi in recent years, and Trump has called on India to
reciprocate by supporting the pro-American Ashraf Ghani administration in Kabul. (The U.S. helped
facilitate Ghani’s election.) Washington wants Pakistan to help sustain the status quo and to stop
competing for influence in Afghanistan.

The U.S. also wants to revive trust between Islamabad and Washington by implementing all military
agreements between the two countries signed in the post-9/11 years. Those agreements have
centered on eliminating terrorists in Afghanistan.

The demands Washington is making run counter to the strategic aims of the Pakistan army, which has
the final word in policy matters. The ruling PTI—which has benefited from support of the military—
hardly has any leverage in the situation.

For its part, Pakistan wants the U.S. to focus on New Delhi-Islamabad relations and to promote
détente between India and Pakistan, both of which are armed with nuclear weapons. India has been
considered Pakistan’s Enemy Number One since the two South Asian neighbors emerged as
independent states in 1947, but many Pakistanis have not agreed with this policy, deeming it unwise
and dangerous for their country’s survival. Until recently, there have been periods of stability and
near-détente, and the U.S. has helped by adopting a policy of mediation and conciliation on India-
Pakistan issues.

Peaceful relations with India would enable Pakistan to focus fully on its western front, which is the
main theater of war against the terrorists in Afghanistan.

With no understanding reached on several regional issues, the stalemate continues. To quote
Pompeo, the objective of “resetting” the direction of U.S.-Pakistan relations has not been achieved.

Looming Economic Crisis

Islamabad has to find a way out of this crisis by strengthening its hand with regard to security and the
economy.

For decades, Islamabad has found strength through strategic links with Washington, including the
arms aid it has received for its military operations. Since the 1950s, it has also received massive
economic assistance from the U.S., although critics say injudicious use of those funds has made
Pakistan overwhelmingly dependent on foreign aid. Much of the money went for projects that never
became functional because they were inappropriate for Pakistan’s conditions, while a lot of money in
“tied” aid went back to the donor country. (Under the conditions of tied aid, the country that receives
funds must spend that money on goods from the donor country.) Newsweek reports that some
funding may even have been embezzled.

Getting out of the debt trap isn’t easy, with an economic crisis staring the country in the face. As on 21
previous occasions, the government in Islamabad is approaching the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) for a bailout. An IMF mission is visiting Islamabad this week.

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The PTI government also has been seeking economic aid from allies, notably Saudi Arabia and China.
Prime Minister Imran Khan managed to get a bailout of $6 billion from Riyadh at the Future
Investment Initiative last month. He has also visited Beijing. and China has assured him it will help
Pakistan in its present crisis but shrewdly has not announced any details, leaving those for future
negotiations. The Chinese likely are waiting to see the outcome of the IMF talks.

Since 2013, China has emerged as Pakistan’s biggest economic partner. The China-Pakistan Economic
Corridor (CPEC) is an integral part of Beijing’s One Belt, One Road initiative, which will open shorter
overland and sea routes to enhance China’s connections with the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

To ward off criticism from several quarters, the Chinese declared recently that CPEC was not the
cause of Pakistan’s current economic malaise. That is true. Every Pakistani government since the
1950s has contributed to the country’s debt burden by borrowing millions of dollars from the West
and the IMF. But what’s also true is that when the repayment of the $50 billion in CPEC-related loans
begins in 2023, the crisis will escalate. Topline Securities, a brokerage house that analyzes CPEC-
related finances, estimates Pakistan’s debt to China will balloon to $90 billion in the 30-year
repayment period.

The basic fact is that Pakistan’s failure to live within its means has brought its economy to the brink.
Its biggest expenditure has been on defense, which has limited its capacity to improve human
resources. Conditions imposed by Pakistan’s creditors has restricted its options in every walk of life
because much of the aid has been earmarked for military equipment and unfeasible civic projects.

Military Security at Stake

To bolster the country in terms of military security, Pakistani policymakers have turned to states that
compete with the U.S. in the global race for strategic supremacy. Pakistan has been closely involved
in military exercises with China on a regular basis since 2004, claiming they promote peace and
reinforce the preparedness of Pakistan’s defense forces. That is nothing new—the two countries have
had close defense ties since the 1960s.

Russia has not been a stranger, either. True, a long period of Pakistan-U.S. military alignment
alienated Russia from Pakistan. But didn’t someone say that there are no permanent friends or foes
in international affairs? Russia and Pakistan have seen periods of amity as well.

In 2014 Islamabad signed a defense cooperation pact with Moscow, when global politics appeared to
be reverting to an erstwhile confrontational pattern. Since then, Russia and Pakistan have held three
military drills to strengthen cooperation and exchange expertise on counterterrorism. The third drill,
dubbed Druzhba-III, ended last month. If nothing else, these exercises amount to a show of strength
and a warning that the U.S. should not expect an easy victory if it confronts Pakistan.

Pakistan has also held war games with Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey. Apart from military benefits,
these exercises show that Pakistan is not isolated. However, this regional involvement has dragged
the government into disputes that it has long sought to avoid. For example, Gen. Raheel Sharif,
Pakistan’s retiring chief of army staff, was appointed commander in chief of the Islamic Military
Counter Terrorism Coalition (formerly the Islamic Military Alliance). The appointment was made by
the Saudi government with the approval of the Pakistan defense minister, although Pakistan’s
National Assembly voted against it. Public opinion in Pakistan strongly disapproves of the
government’s involvement in Saudi conflicts in the region.
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Pakistan’s economic and security challenges are daunting. With China’s support, short-term solutions
are being found, although in the long run Islamabad’s woes will become direr than ever. Trump’s
inability to take a multidimensional view of the region, especially of the India-Pakistan conflict, will
destabilize the region further. This area is home to two states with nuclear arms, and even a skirmish
could trigger a devastating war.

Source: Truthdig

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Whose girl is she?

September 28, 2018 Children and Youth, Culture and the Arts, Development and Poverty,
Foreign Policy of Pakistan, Justice, Law & Order Zubeida Mustafa
By Zubeida Mustafa

THE Sindh police are under fire, which is not something unusual as its performance can hardly be
described as satisfactory. It is also alleged to be notoriously corrupt.

A fortnight ago, the Sindh chief justice rebuked the defenders of the law for their failure to recover 22
children who had been missing for several years. An NGO, Roshni Helpline, had filed a petition in the
Sindh High Court on behalf of their parents.

In spite of the directive, the police had not set up a team to look into each case.

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Pompeo’s Five Hours in Islamabad

September 9, 2018 Defence and Disarmament, Economy, Foreign Policy of Pakistan,
International Politics Zubeida Mustafa
By Zubeida Mustafa

He came, he talked briefly and he le . All in one a ernoon. That sums up U.S. Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo’s fleeting visit to Islamabad on Sept 5. Since expectations were not high, both sides opted to
be discreet about disclosing what they had discussed. No doubt they were courteous and
conciliatory. That would have helped to create the atmosphere needed to “reset” relations between
the U.S. and Pakistan, the main purpose of this exercise in diplomacy.

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Flesh trade
August 3, 2018 Children and Youth, Foreign Policy of Pakistan, Human Rights, Justice, Law &
Order, Social Issues, Women Zubeida Mustafa
By Zubeida Mustafa

IN 2016 two young girls in their teens were snatched by their stepbrother from their home in a
squatter settlement of Karachi and have not been seen since then by their widowed mother. More
than a month ago, I wrote about her futile search for her daughters.

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Pakistan’s elections bring hope and

uncertainty
August 1, 2018 Foreign Policy of Pakistan, General, Politics Zubeida Mustafa
By Zubeida Mustafa

Last week’s elections in Pakistan yielded predictable outcomes, which could take the country in an
unanticipated direction. Preliminary results announced Friday by the Election Commission of
Pakistan give the victory to Tehreek-e-Insaf (also known as the PTI, or Justice Party) of the cricket-
star-turned-politician Imran Khan. Although his party missed a clear majority in the National
Assembly, it should be able to easily woo a few independents to its side to form a stable government.

If there is an unpredictable factor, it is the reaction of the major mainstream parties a er their
emergence as the losers, especially the Pakistan Muslim League of former Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif. He and his daughter are now in prison a er being found guilty of gra in a property case. A
multiparty conference of the main losers (in which the Pakistan Peoples Party did not participate) has
rejected the results of Wednesday’s voting and demanded new, transparent elections. Will they pay
the PTI in its own coin by staging sit-ins to disrupt life in the country, as Imran Khan did in the years
following the 2013 elections?

Even prior to last week’s elections, it was widely alleged that the “Miltablishment”—-the country’s
military leadership—was creating conditions that improved the prospects of the PTI. Khan is viewed
as the darling of the generals. The military establishment’s move to selectively push gra cases
against his rivals on the pretext of accountability while turning a blind eye to the wrongdoings of
Khan’s cronies was seen as a one-sided attack on the corruption pervasive in Pakistan’s politics.
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In the weeks preceding the elections, there were protests from the media as well as from some
members of the judiciary against interference from “hidden hands.” What seems to give credence to
these charges now is the preliminary statement issued Friday by the EU Election Observation Mission.
While praising the Election Commission’s role in the conduct of the polling, the statement
categorically said that the “electoral process of 2018 was negatively affected by the political
environment.” It spoke of the playing field not being level and of “lack of equality of opportunity” for
all contestants.

The U.S. State Department shared the EU observers’ concerns and questioned the fairness of the
voting. Pointing out flaws in the elections, the State Department spoke of constraints placed on
freedom of expression and on association during the campaign period.

Meanwhile, the PTI’s Khan has promised the people a naya (new) Pakistan. His victory speech,
delivered even before the results were officially confirmed, was widely hailed as a statesmanlike and
conciliatory piece of oratory.

The 65-year-old prime-minister-to-be said all the right things in a calculatedly correct tone. This was
refreshing a er the vitriolic outbursts from all sides during the election campaign. Attributing
Pakistan’s problems to corruption and the collapse of governance, Khan promised to rebuild all
national institutions and root out gra . He assured the nation that he would create a welfare state to
li up the poor and the underprivileged. He promised to try corrupt officials and apply accountability
across the board.

This was music to the ears of the people of this country of 208 million, ruled for decades by status-quo
forces that have failed to pull most of them out of poverty. But such promises have been made before.
The only difference is that the PTI is at the helm for the first time.

What is significant is the refrain one hears from political observers and analysts: We must wait and
see whether the promised reform will actually happen. Skeptics are abundant, but the young, savvy
and educated who hold privileged positions are euphoric and say the new leadership should be given
a chance.

Many people are tired of the turbulence and violence that o en occur when political parties stage
protests and rallies. Near the end of the campaign for this month’s elections, three suicide bombings
killed three candidates and 180 people. Then came another bomb attack on election day, killing 31
people in Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan.

What should interest foreign powers is the line the prime minister-elect will take on foreign policy. In
his victory speech, Khan spoke about that policy ambiguously. He didn’t mention his views on
defense and security, which could have stirred controversy. He was vocal about bringing peace to the
region—without saying how he will treat militant elements, some of which he has expressed
admiration for in the past.

Khan mentioned his goals regarding six other countries, but he adopted such an unspecific, broad
stance that he succeeded in not stepping on any toes, including those of Pakistan’s defense
establishment, which is firmly in control of foreign policy. He said he would seek to:

• Strengthen relations with China

• Bring peace in Afghanistan (to help bring peace in Pakistan) and have open borders between the two
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countries
• Develop mutually beneficial relations with the United States
• Build stronger ties with Iran
• Help Saudi Arabia resolve its internal tensions
• Improve relations with India, if its leadership agrees; end the blame game between Pakistan and
India; stop human rights violations in Kashmir.

The speech was a safe statement of intent; it called for no specific commitments that might be
controversial. But a closer look at some of Khan’s previous statements shows him to be anti-U.S., to
have reservations about China’s economic practices, to be more pro-Saudi Arabia than many
Pakistanis would prefer, to be a hard-liner on India, and to have a so spot for militants—be they in
Pakistan, Afghanistan or Kashmir. Weave into this narrative the military’s own concealed agenda and
you will be le guessing as to what the future might hold.

Pakistan, especially its army, has had close ties with China since the 1950s. Islamabad and Beijing
have provided each other with unequivocal support—military, diplomatic, economic and political.
Sino-Pakistan friendship, said to be as high as the Himalayas and as deep as the Indian Ocean, has
benefited both nations in their conflicts with India. Pakistan has used its relationship with China to
neutralize the U.S. when the need arose. Today, a time when Pakistan is in deep economic crisis,
China’s One Belt and One Road initiative, with its promise of $900 billion infrastructure aid for 65
nations, is a boon for Pakistan, which has yet to become self-reliant.

Pakistan’s relations with the U.S. have seen ups and downs since the war in Afghanistan began, but
they have never before reached the current low, demonstrated by President Trump’s 2017
announcement of his “fight to win” policy in Afghanistan, a declaration in which he accused Pakistan
of providing havens for terrorists. Then, in his first tweet of 2018, Trump said the U.S. “had given it
[Pakistan] more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing
but lies & deceit.”

Trump also strengthened the hawks in the Pakistan army when he invited Pakistan’s historical enemy
India to “help us more with Afghanistan.”

Islamabad’s relations with India have worsened since 2008 when terrorists suspected of coming from
Pakistan attacked Mumbai. The previously intermittent dialogue between the two countries remains
suspended.

Many believe that in the coming months the new government will make compromises to get everyone
on the same page. Khan’s ex-wife, Reham Khan, a television presenter, said in an interview that Khan
was known for his “U-turns.” Others—with less of a personal history—agree. Najam Sethi, the editor of
The Friday Times, a political weekly published from Lahore, wrote, “Imran Khan … is a different kettle
of fish. He may have embraced the Miltablishment as a tactical move but sooner rather than later he
will begin to challenge the conventional wisdom of the national security state handed down to him.
That’s when all bets will be off.”

The only conclusively reassuring feature of these elections is the failure of the numerous candidates
from terrorist groups. Not one of them won. That was the people’s verdict.

Source: Truthdig

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Love thy neighbour

February 16, 2018 Defence and Disarmament, Economy, Foreign Policy of Pakistan, History,
Kashmir, Terrorism and Violence, War and Peace Zubeida Mustafa

By Zubeida Mustafa

THE disputes between India and Pakistan have cast a long and dark shadow over their relationship
since the two countries stepped out of colonial bondage in 1947. The circumstances surrounding their
birth made it inevitable that ill feelings would mar ties and make coexistence difficult.

But did it have to be so forever? This question is now being asked by sane and rational people on both
sides of the border. Even a er seven decades that saw a major reconfiguration of the map of South
Asia through three wars and the breakup of Pakistan, this question has a strange urgency to it.

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Integrity above all

February 4, 2018 Book Reviews, Books, Books by ZM, Education, Foreign Policy of Pakistan,
Health, History, Information, International Politics, Library Zubeida Mustafa
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ZM with renowne playwright Haseena Moin

By Beena Sarwar

When a pioneering journalist pens her memoirs, you pay attention. Especially when she is Zubeida
Mustafa of Pakistan, a long-time feminist and champion of social causes who, from her editorial perch
at the daily Dawn, witnessed momentous transitions in the country’s media and political landscapes
for over three decades. Beyond being a witness to change, she has also, as she realises with a thrill,
“been a part of it, at times driving it and at times being driven by it.”

The narrative in this slim hardcover, My Dawn Years: Exploring Social Issues, is quintessential Zubeida
Mustafa: direct, understated, deep, nuanced, thorough — and meticulously indexed. Black and white
photos, though somewhat grainy, are well captioned, providing a pictorial reference to many of the
events and people mentioned in the book.

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