WASHINGTON, Nov 28: Pakistan’s new army chief will face two major challenges, continuing the culture of non-interference in civilian affairs introduced by his predecessor and fighting terrorists who continue to pose an existential threat to the state, according to the US media.
Almost all major US media outlets commented on the change of military command in Pakistan, describing it as “the most crucial” decision of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s new tenure.
“The question now is whether Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani’s changes to the military culture that have rendered the prospect of a military coup a secondary risk will continue under Gen. Raheel Sharif,” asked The New York Times.
“Given the prime minister’s seeming comfort with the choice, and the opinion of senior military analysts, most saw continued restraint to be the most likely result,” the newspaper added.
The report pointed out that Gen. Sharif faced a number of external challenges as well.
It identified the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan next year and the continued and deeply unpopular CIA drone strikes inside Pakistan as two such challenges. These two issues in particular “have kept apprehensions high among Pakistani officials,” NYT added.
The newspaper noted that despite often-strained relations, the Obama administration has continued to seek Pakistani military and intelligence cooperation on those issues, “presenting a difficult balancing act for the country’s military leadership”.
The Wall Street Journal called the new appointment Prime Minister Sharif’s “surprise move” as he passed over two more-senior generals to promote Gen. Sharif.
“The decision is seen as an attempt by the prime minister to bolster civilian authority over the army that twice ousted him from power in the past,” the newspaper observed.
WSJ described the new army chief as “a moderate who views the internal threats posed by Islamic militants, especially the Pakistani Taliban, as the key challenge facing Pakistan — not the traditional enemy India.”
The newspaper reported that as Inspector General Training and Evaluation, Gen. Sharif revised the army training manual “to concentrate more on the internal threat and guerrilla warfare”.
Popular US television channel NBC News noted that the new army chief had taken over at a time when “tension with India over disputed Kashmir is rising and as the United States seeks Pakistan’s help in bringing peace to Afghanistan ahead of the withdrawal of most Western forces there next year.”
NBC News also described Gen. Sharif as a moderate “who sees the threat by insurgents within the country as being just as important as the tussle for the Kashmir region with India”.
The channel predicted that Gen. “Sharif will try to meet Washington’s demand that next year’s Afghan elections are not threatened by insurgents based in Pakistan.”
He will also be tasked with ensuring that the US and Western coalition forces withdrawing from Afghanistan “are able to pass safely through the Nato supply routes that use Pakistan’s roads and ports.” The Washington Post noted that Gen. Sharif could quickly be tested by the complicated domestic politics over how best to address Islamist militants, including the Taliban.
“Despite unease among some military commanders, Nawaz Sharif is pressing for peace talks with the Taliban, a stance backed by several major political parties,” the report added.
“But few analysts expect that peace talks, which Taliban leaders have yet to agree to, will bring an end to violence.”
