From being at the “receiving end” of world criticism, both unjustified and justified, Pakistan is now graduating into the global league of states that must necessarily task themselves to lead the world away from the brink of impending anarchy and chaos. Pakistan’s President Parvez Musharraf now clearly occupies a place at the High Policy Table around which the global “powerfuls” sit to strategize for such a monumental task.
In Washington, London and Paris such “powerfuls” were attentive to what Musharraf had to say. While the meetings created space for additional expansion of bilateral relations with the US, UK and France, they cast Musharraf in the role of a leader managing a state with influence extending beyond its own region.
The Dec. 4 Musharraf-Bush meeting has also firmly reiterated the broadening parameters of the Pakistan-US relations. Its structures and substance covering trade, development and defense, developed over the last two years, point toward a “good and strong” relationship. While Bush acknowledged Musharraf as a “world leader” with whom he works, Musharraf too is recommending strategic course correction to the US on burning issues like Palestine and Iraq. Kashmir will come later in case bilateralism yields no progress.
There maybe a de ja vu to the Pakistan-US reconnection, especially within the Middle East context. Nevertheless today Pakistan has its own deeply developed security, diplomatic and to some extent commercial relations with the Middle East and an autonomous understanding of the issues that need to be addressed. For example, Pakistan took the lead in critiquing the initial Washington-led Broader Middle East and North Africa Initiative (BMENA) causing its repackaging. Now Pakistan will seek US and EU support in the financial reform sector, market access and skill training at BMENA’s Rabat Forum
In London and Paris Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac completely supported Musharraf’s approach to ending the rapidly deteriorating global security situation. They wanted Musharraf’s “read out” on how Bush would deal with Palestine and Iraq in his second term. In fact the French especially saw in Musharraf a man who could constructively “engage” and “advise” Bush on Washington’s highly troubled Iraq policy.
Musharraf has led Pakistan’s constructive engagement with the US and the West that has yielded both short-term and long-term benefits. If Pakistan’s rapid policy adjustments to the post— Sept. 11 scene got it out of the firing line, its content and conduct of policy on other fronts have positioned Pakistan as a responsible state. These include Musharraf’s active participation in the global security discourse, clearing of terrorist structures on home ground, securing Pakistan’s borders with Afghanistan, deftly dealing with the A.Q Khan fiasco, wisely not confrontationally handling the Iraq situation, putting the political-diplomatic strategy ahead of the armed strategy to resolve the Kashmir dispute and opt for a normalization process with India. Musharraf argues that global stability cannot come unless the US sincerely works for a solution to these disputes.
The president is casting himself in the role of a man of reconciliation. Something that Musharraf has finally also begun on home ground. He took his message of urgency to resolve disputes and of civilizational reconciliation to all the heads of state and the opinion-making groups he met throughout his six-nation tour.
And his message is critical. After all Western policies toward allied Muslim governments, toward Palestine and Kashmir in the forties, Iran in the fifties, Afghan proxy war in the eighties and the Iraq invasion in early 2003, based on national interest calculations, have back-fired. Ironically the structures, ideologies and tools of these policies finally enabled both the weak ally and the weak target of these blundering policies, to build their collective response. Matching Christian imperialism the “holy war” paradigm emerged in the nineties from sections of Muslim societies.
Statesmanship, proactive intellect and a principle-driven worldview are required to defuse this combustible sociopolitical material. Musharraf’s “enlightened moderation” requiring socioeconomic development, equitable justice, tolerance and solution of key political disputes, is an apt response to this challenge. Provided of course global leaders buy into it. The early signs are promising.
Now past the labels of a “failing state” Pakistan, led by Musharraf, is being viewed as a reforming state with a pivotal role in global affairs and certainly within the many geographical regions it straddles. In the “faith region” also Pakistan’s influence extends globally wherever Muslims reside. The Pakistani state itself is in the midst of ideologically reorienting itself to the pre-1979 phase. It is also creating the enabling conditions for society to pursue the inclusive, reformist and compassionate Islam, which comes naturally to the people. Meanwhile for sustainable reform and progress, political stability, genuine rule of law and a more competent and competitive business class are critical. This is also necessary for Pakistan to acquire and consolidate its position in the global league and the benefits that accrue from it.
— Nasim Zehra is a fellow of the Harvard University Asia Center.