Little option for Pak. on foreign policy

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, SEPT. 13. It may sound strange but it is true. The terrorist attacks in New York and Washington could prove to be the gravest challenge to the Pakistani President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf.

Gen. Musharraf could be faced with a serious dilemma, particularly if the investigators in the United States were to come to the conclusion that the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon were carried out by followers of the Saudi fugitive, Osama bin Laden, hiding in Afghanistan.

As it is, Islamabad has been under tremendous pressure from the U.S. to use its good offices with the Taliban militia in Afghanistan and help it ``apprehend'' Osama. And if the Bush administration ends up blaming Osama or his supporters, Pakistan may be left with little options on its foreign policy front.

Pakistan is among the three countries in the world that recognise the Taliban regime and the military establishment in Islamabad is perceived to enjoy enormous influence on the militia in Afghanistan. Pakistan has tried its best in the last few months to tell the world that Taliban has a mind of its own but it appears the international community continues to believe otherwise.

Diplomatic sources in Islamabad believe that the latest developments and increasing suspicion about the involvement of Osama in the U.S. attacks could prove to be the crunch time for the Musharraf Government.

``If and when the U.S. Government is convinced about the role of Osama in the latest attacks, there is little doubt that the military government in Pakistan would have to take some crucial decisions. Either it severs its ties with the Taliban (unless the Taliban is prepared to hand over Osama) or it decides to take the side of the militia and risk the danger of international isolation,'' a senior western diplomat said. Either way it would not be an easy option for Gen. Musharraf. Afghanistan has come to one of the crucial elements of the foreign policy of Pakistan in the last two decades. Some of the influential religious parties in Pakistan are increasingly looking towards the Taliban as the role model for Pakistan.

There has been a furious debate within Pakistan for quiet some time on the price the country has paid for its association with a regime that has antagonised the rest of the world. Experts within Pakistan are urging the government to seriously re-consider its ties with Taliban. But for a variety of reasons Islamabad has not been able to move away from the Taliban.

It would not be easy for any regime in Pakistan to dissociate itself from the Taliban overnight. In the hearts of average Pakistanis there is tremendous sympathy for the Afghans and there is a growing belief that Afghanistan has been deserted by the rest of the world, particularly the west, after using it in the proxy war against the Soviet Union. Osama is regarded as a hero in some sections of the Pakistani society.

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Section  : International
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