Promises to keep

This refers to the article ‘Realistic ambitions’ (July 28) by Rahimullah Yusufzai. Whilst deconstructing our PM’s recent visit to the US, the writer very presciently asserts that the basic purpose of inviting our PM to the US is because the superpower is in need of his help to persuade the Taliban to basically allow a dignified exit to the US forces in Afghanistan. Our army chief went to the US as well to emphasize on the gravity of the situation to the Pakistani delegation and to show that the civilian government and the armed forces were on the same page.The US president boasted to be able to achieve some pretty impossible things whilst meeting our PM. First he said that he could bring the war in Afghanistan to an end in 10 days, but as that would entail a lot of Afghan deaths he did not want to take that route. Similarly, he asserted that the PM of India had asked him to mediate on Kashmir between India and Pakistan. This statement was difficult to buy, as the Indian government’s consistent position has been that the Kashmir problem could only be solved bilaterally between India and Pakistan. PM Khan commented wisely that Pakistan could only exert so much pressure on the Taliban to agree to its point of view. In case of a less than very favourable response from the Taliban, Pakistan may face the wrath of the mercurial US.Akbar J MarwatIslamabad

from The News International - Newspost https://ift.tt/317MkXw