Opinion Cameron in Islamabad

On April 6,Daily Times reported his arrival in Islamabad: “‘Let’s make today a fresh start in our relationship,’ said Cameron on his first trip to Pakistan as Britain’s leader,which he undertook to improve cooperation on counter-terrorism operations and Afghanistan,and set a new pace for bilateral ties by entering enhanced strategic dialogue with Pakistan.”

An editorial in Dawn on April 7 decoded the “fresh start”: “Last year,during a visit to India,British PM David Cameron labelled Pakistan a terrorist haven. In Islamabad on Tuesday,he tried to allay Pakistani fears. He was lucky to have at hand hosts who had no option but to ignore his uncharitable observations of the past… In diplomacy and politics,it matters how one elaborates one’s views… He also sounded a virtual warning to the incumbents at the same time as he sought to explain the situation to the people they were representing: ‘Not fair on you,ordinary Pakistanis,who suffer at the sharpest end of this weak government.’ And ‘my job is made more difficult when people in Britain look at Pakistan,a country that receives millions of pounds of our aid money,and see weaknesses in terms of government capacity and waste.’ These are declarations more categorical than earlier ones.”

While Cameron was in Pakistan,rumour had it that,before leaving London,he had cleared the handing over of Pervez Musharraf to Pakistan. A report in The News cleared all doubts on that as it quoted Cameron as saying there was no extradition treaty between the UK and Pakistan. He also said: “However,Pakistan has not yet made any request in this regard,and a proper application was needed to proceed further in the matter.”

Old wounds

On the occasion of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s 32nd death anniversary,Pakistan’s president Asif Ali Zardari filed a reference in the Supreme Court to reopening the case of Bhutto’s death sentence,which is termed “judicial murder” by his sympathisers. Daily Times reported on April 5 that the chief justice of Pakistan,Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry,had set the date for its hearing on April 13. Zardari,of course,is the current co-chair of Bhutto’s party,the PPP,and also his son-in-law. Bhutto’s daughter-in-law,and he leader of the PPP-Shaheed Bhutto,Ghinwa,however,denounced Zardari’s call to reopen the case. On April 5,The News reported her speech before a crowd at the Bhutto graveyard: “If the rulers are sincere with the philosophy of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto,they should end the brutal socio-economic exploitation of masses.”

Unhappy with America

A recent White House report on Pakistan’s inability to control extremism along its border with Afghanistan has rubbed Pakistan’s establishment the wrong way. On April 8,Daily Times reported:“‘I would like to categorically state that we do not share the assessment of the US,’ foreign ministry’s spokeswoman Tehmina Janjua told reporters… ‘The references to Pakistan are unwarranted… Pakistan should not be held accountable for the failings of coalition strategy in Afghanistan. Pakistan has a clear strategy in dealing with this and other issues and solely be guided by its own national interest’.” A separate report stated: “Pakistan spelt out ‘concerns’ dogging its troubled alliance with the US at talks Thursday with the most senior American to visit since the release of CIA operative Raymond Davis… US commander of the Middle East and Afghanistan,General James Mattis,flew in as relations took a further knock… Mattis was meeting Pakistan’s army chief General Ashfaq Kayani and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff committee,General Khalid Shamim Wynne.”