The Hindu : Rewarding Musharraf

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 27, 2003

Opinion

Opinion - Editorials

Rewarding Musharraf

THE UNAMBIGUOUS AMERICAN endorsement of his leadership must come as a morale booster for the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf. Along with the economic and military assistance that his ally, George W. Bush, has promised, this support will considerably strengthen his hands to face the domestic political storm being raised by myriad groups of Islamic religious fundamentalists. The body language of the American President matched his measured words on the grounds of his exclusive retreat at Camp David and he had but one message: that the U.S. values the Pakistani connection and is not ready to forsake it. "We have no better partner in our fight against terrorism than President Musharraf," Mr. Bush said in clear acknowledgement that the time had come for Washington to repay the Pakistani ruler for his extraordinarily bold and tactically shrewd decision to abandon support for the Taliban and align with the U.S. in its war against the Al-Qaeda and overthrow the hardline regime in Kabul. The American President pointedly referred to their continuing partnership in the fight against terrorism and cited the arrest of more than 500 Al-Qaeda suspects in Pakistan. Gen. Musharraf in turn underscored his allegiance to the fight against terrorists by reminding his host that in the operation to flush out Taliban remnants he had ordered his army for the first time ever into the lawless semi-autonomous tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

The $ 3 billion package of financial and military assistance over a five-year period that Mr. Bush announced holds much promise, even though the gift wrapping does carry the mandatory warnings on movement towards democracy et al that any allied military ruler receives. The red carpet welcome accorded to Gen. Musharraf and Washington's readiness to meet his demands and share his concerns were a signal in the main of the American goal of ensuring the stability of the country and its concurrent anxiety to keep at bay the obscurantist elements whose voice is becoming increasingly strident. The resurgent coalition of Islamic parties, which is winning popular support by criticising the close U.S.-Pakistan ties, has dismissed the aid package as an insult and the denial of the F-16 fighter planes as a slap in the face. But it must be noted that the continued denial of the one item that Gen. Musharraf must have desperately wanted in the package has been prompted as much by American reluctance to upset the warming relations with India as by concerns over Islamabad's proven complicity in proliferation of nuclear and missile technology. Pakistan has denied providing North Korea with the designs for centrifuges to enrich uranium that has led to the erection of a second nuclear project and Gen. Musharraf is said to have told the U.S. that the clandestine relationship has ended. The U.S. would want to see concrete proof of this break, considering past denials of such links with the regime in North Korea.

If the decision over the F-16s will please New Delhi, it must also be satisfied that Mr. Bush held up the bilateral route for solving India-Pakistan problems and refused to walk into the trap laid by Gen. Musharraf inviting American mediation over Kashmir. Mr. Bush confined himself to repeating the assurance that the U.S. will remain engaged in South Asia, at the same time urging effective action to end cross-border militancy. Washington will watch how far Gen. Musharraf fulfils his commitment of a "100 per cent" effort to stop incursions across the border. The Kashmir dispute apart, the Pakistani leader launched on his current four-nation diplomatic drive to ensure that Western interest in his country does not wane with the focus shifting to the Middle East. His rhetorical pronouncements in London and the high profile visit to Camp David have brought the spotlight momentarily on him. As he returns home via Paris and Berlin, a host of political, economic and security problems await him. The Pakistani people will also look forward to further steps towards the promised "sustainable democracy".

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