WASHINGTON: Pakistan’s Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa assured the (Pakistani) nation on Tuesday that the armed forces have distanced themselves from politics and want to remain so.
The army chief also reiterated his pledge to leave after the completion of his second three-year term in two months, saying that he would do as he promised earlier. He made these remarks at a lunch at the Pakistan Embassy in Washington.
According to the people who attended, Gen Bajwa addressed the gathering before the lunch and then also made informal remarks while talking to his guests. He reminded the nation that reviving the country’s ailing economy should be the first priority of all segments of society, adding that without a strong economy the nation would not be able to achieve its targets.
“There could be no diplomacy either without a strong economy,” said the army chief in his address to an audience which included a large number of Pakistani diplomats.
He went on to say that restoring the ailing economy of Pakistan should be the priority of every stakeholder of society. Without a strong economy, other nations will not be able to achieve their targets, the army chief said during an informal talk.
After the lunch, Gen Bajwa went to the Pentagon for a meeting with US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin. According to the ISPR, Gen Bajwa called on retired General Lloyd James Austin III, Secretary of Defence; Jacob Jeremiah Sullivan, National Security Adviser; and Wendy Ruth Sherman, Deputy Secretary of State in separate meetings.
During the meetings, matters of mutual of interest, regional security situation and bilateral cooperation in various fields were discussed.
The army chief thanked the US officials for their support and reiterated that assistance from “our global partners shall be vital for rescue/rehabilitation of the flood victims in Pakistan”.
Gen Bajwa thanked US officials for their support and reiterated that “assistance from our global partners shall be vital for rescue/ rehabilitation of the flood victims in Pakistan,” according to the ISPR.
“Both sides agreed that Pakistan, US have long history of bilateral cooperation and shall continue improving through economic ties, trade and investment,” the statement added. The statement said that the army chief offered heartfelt condolences on the deaths and devastation caused by the hurricane in Florida. He said that Pakistan fully understands the loss and pain of victim families as Pakistan is suffering from similar effects of climate change.
“Both sides had convergence on major international issues, including Afghanistan, and need for cooperation to avoid humanitarian crisis and improving peace and stability in the region,” the statement concluded.
Wrong reporting
Meanwhile, it was incorrectly reported in local media on Tuesday that the DGI, CGS and DGMO are also accompanying COAS during his current visit to the US.
Bajwa’s tour significant
Diplomatic sources term General Bajwa’s trip an important one that portrayed “robust relations” between US, Pakistan.
General Bajwa Monday began the second leg of his US visit by holding scheduled meetings with senior officials of the Biden administration.
Gen. Bajwa arrived here on Friday and met with the UN officials in New York. Pakistani officials are tight-lipped about the visit; however, sources confirmed that the army chief had started meeting with senior US officials in Washington DC from Monday.
Gen Bajwa, heading a delegation, will be in the town for another couple of days, diplomatic sources said, terming the trip an important one that portrayed “robust relations” between the two countries.
They emphasized that the US-Pakistan relations were diversifying but the defense and security ties had always been stronger. Pakistan and its military were instrumental in assisting the US in efforts to evacuate people from Afghanistan last year post-Taliban takeover.
Gen. Bajwa’s visit to the US was long due. It also had to be rescheduled at least thrice in the last one year for one reason or another, the sources said, adding that the army chief will be meeting with defense and security related officials during this trip. The last time General Bajwa visited the US was in 2019.
Report on Pak-US relations
The United States and Pakistan need to rebuild a modest but pragmatic relationship, based on mutual respect for each other’s interests, and not on exaggerated expectations, says a report released in Washington on Tuesday.
The report, prepared by a dozen American scholars of South Asian affairs associated with the Pakistan Study Group (PSG), Washington, has been released a day before Pakistan’s Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa was expected to meet US scholars and think-tank experts at the Pakistan Embassy.
The report warns American policy makers that they cannot afford to walk away from a country that involves three key regions — South Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East — and has borders with China and Iran and is close to Russia.
The authors include a former US secretary of state for South Asia, two former US ambassadors to Pakistan, a former Pakistani ambassador to the US and other senior diplomats who have worked in Pakistan, and American scholars specialising in South Asia.
According to this paper, a modest, pragmatic relationship between the US and Pakistan would involve understanding that Pakistan and the US will “continue to see Afghanistan through different lens but can cooperate in maintaining peace in that country and alleviating its people’s suffering”.
It also reminds American policymakers that “attitudes toward India at both the elite and popular levels in Pakistan will, at best, change slowly”.
The report also notes that “public opinion in both the US and Pakistan acts as constraints on bilateral relations”.
The United States, however, can still induce Pakistan to change its overall strategic calculus, which is based on Pakistan’s understanding of its security environment, it added.
The paper acknowledges that the United States and Pakistan have divergent views on China and recommends “a more nuanced US policy on Pakistan”.
The authors argue that the US engagement with Pakistan would benefit if it were based on a realistic appraisal of Pakistan’s policies, aspirations, and worldview.
“There is a need to acknowledge that inducements or threats will not result in securing change in Pakistan’s strategic direction,” the authors warn.
They remind Washington that “it is not in American national security interests to isolate Pakistan or irreparably breach the relationship.
But a normalisation of Pakistan’s cooperation with the US remains in the US national interest”.