Editorial: Breaking new ground Wednesday, 28 December 2011 01:43

Pakistan-American relations are being recast. In fact they have already been reset to a certain extent, and the commendable part is that it has happened without inflicting more damage. There has been a sense of inevitability about what has happened – a sense of realisation on both sides that the relationship between the two cannot go on as they are after US airstrikes killed 26 Pakistani soldiers near the Afghan border last month. The killing unleashed such fury in Pakistan that the government in Islamabad couldn’t have contained its consequences without punitive action against Washington. The government did three things: close the supply routes into Afghanistan, boycott a conference in Germany on Afghanistan rebuilding, and most importantly, sternly order the US forces to shut its drone operations from a base in Afghanistan.

Since then the rethinking on both sides has crystallized into more concrete action. The relations between the two are being downsized and will focus on the minimum. It marks a new phase and in a sense is a closing of a chapter in the post-September 11 period.

The coming weeks will reveal what form the partnership between Washington and Islamabad will take, as Pakistan is seriously thinking what action it has to take and the US debates how it can reevaluate the relationship. Though the broad security partnership will be whittled down, there is no denying the fact that both sides cannot afford a serious rupture in relations. Pakistan badly needs the huge financial aid it has been getting from the US and defence support from the Pentagon, while Washington cannot think of finding a solution in Afghanistan without serious, sincere cooperation from Pakistan.

It’s this realisation that has prompted both sides to apply brakes when the rhetoric on both sides threatened to spiral out of control.

In the changed scenario, US will be forced to become more cautious in its drone operations to avoid past mistakes and limit the number of spies and soldiers inside Pakistan. Also, it will have to spend more in transporting supplies to Nato troops in Afghanistan. On the other side, the US aid to Pakistan is likely to be cut.

The reset in relations, though can be viewed as a setback, can also be interpreted as more realistic and responsive to the internal politics of both the countries. By ordering the US to leave the airbase and boycotting the conference on Afghanistan, Pakistani leaders were able to assuage its citizens who were seething with anger at American ‘atrocities’ in the country. They also feel emboldened to seriously rethink the relationship to recalibrate it to suit their interests.