Sanctioning Pakistan or declaring it a state sponsor of terrorism could backfire, the United States lawmakers were warned at a congressional hearing.
The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on US-Pakistan relations and had a lively debate on the issue whose transcript was released on Sunday.
Senator Bob Corker, the committee’s chairman in his opening statement expressed frustration with Pakistan's alleged lack of cooperation in defeating terrorist groups still active in neighbouring Afghanistan.
In order to make Pakistan cooperate, Senator Corker, a Republican, and Senator Ben Cardin, the ranking Democrat on the committee asked the witnesses to explain what measures US policymakers could take.
‘In order to justify major policy shifts like eliminating aid, labelling Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism or enacting sanctions, US policymakers should be able to explain how such actions would make America's strategic predicament better,’ the Dawn quoted one of the witnesses Prof Daniel Markey of the Johns Hopkins University as saying.
He added that Islamabad would need to consider the possibility that coercion could backfire, raising tensions and making Islamabad less willing or able to advance any constructive agenda.
He was of the opinion that the next US president could take ‘a far more coercive approach’ with Pakistan than the outgoing president Barack Obama.
Meanwhile, Toby Dalton, a co-director of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said there was a vast difference between what the US should and could do.
“Ideally, the United States and others should seek ways to convince Pakistan to flatten the growth curve of its nuclear programme. The honest assessment is, however, that since Pakistan embarked on a nuclear weapons programme, very little the US has tried, whether sanctions or inducements, has had an appreciable impact,” he said.
Recalling that this May, the Senate put a hold on allowing Pakistan to use US funds for buying F-16 aircraft, ‘which I think is appropriate’ said Senator Corker.
The senator claimed that the Afghan militant Haqqani network’s leaders had been living in Pakistan and the Pakistani government knew where they lived but would not cooperate with US’ efforts to eliminate them.
While noting that banning Pakistan from using US funds to buy F-16s was very complicated, senator Cardin said that Islamabad was a strategic partner in the war against terrorism but the US still had major concerns about that relationship, ‘as they seem to be very selective in fighting terrorism’.
Senator Perdue meanwhile, said that of $19 billion (Rs 1,27,300 crore) provided to Pakistan since September 11, 2001, only $8 billion (Rs 53,600 crore) were actually for security efforts, while $11billion (Rs 73,700 crore) were for humanitarian purposes.
Prof Markey said US assistance to Pakistan should be divided into three categories.
“Category one, things where they want and we want. Category two, we and they want similar things but they want to do it differently than we think is right. Category three, areas where we want to tell them what we think they should do and we believe they are not doing,” he said.
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