Obama must get Indian troop pullback before demanding same from Pakistan

WASHINGTON, May 5: On the eve of a tripartite regional summit meeting, Pakistan has asked U.S. President Barack Obama to get India pull back its forces from the country’s eastern border before making demands on Islamabad to move its troops to fight militants along its western border with Afghanistan.

According to The Washington Post Global, Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington argued that if the U.S. really wants the Pakistani army to move troops from the Indian border to the tribal areas, as U.S.  officials often say, then it should get the Indians to reduce their military forces.

“It’s time for Obama to put in a call to the Indians telling them, ‘If you move some of your troops, they’ll move theirs,” Husain  Haqqani said, a day ahead of President Asif Ali Zardari’s meeting with President Barack Obama and a trilateral meeting also engaging Afghanistan

A number of top American experts on South Asia and lawmakers have been echoing the need for such a withdrawal step by New Delhi as part of efforts to address Islamabad’s regional security concerns.

The Pakistan envoy told the Post Global discourse that Islamabad has a well-considered plan and the will to address the menace of violent extremism in a holistic perspective but needs international support.

“We have a plan. We have the will. We are negotiating on getting the means.”

The Post Global co-moderator David Ignatious also cites an unnamed senior Pakistani official as warning against American meddling in Pakistani politics.

“The more Americans get in the weeds of Pakistani politics, the less they will accomplish,” the senior Pakistani official remarked.

“There’s too much discussion of who can fix the problem, rather than what should be done,” complained the senior Pakistani official.

Meanwhile, in order to show that it’s serious about supporting Pakistan, the Obama administration is preparing a series of initiatives for this week’s trilateral summit with President Zardari and Afghan leader Hamid Karzai.

The list may include quick delivery of $953 million in promised U.S. aid for Pakistan that has been delayed in the pipeline. (APP)