WASHINGTON, Feb 11: US officials, who have publicly urged Pakistan to expedite a parliamentary review of their relations with the United States, expect Islamabad to complete the process by the end of next week.
The understanding follows a series of meetings between US and Pakistani officials in Washington and Islamabad aimed at resuming a relationship that started to go sour early last year when a CIA contractor, Raymond Davis, killed two Pakistanis in Lahore. The May 2 US raid on an Abbottabad compound, which killed Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, further strained this relationship. And a Nov 26 Nato air raids that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers led to the suspension of Nato supply routes to Afghanistan.
Soon after the attack, Pakistan ordered a parliamentary review of its relationship with the US, promising to rebuild it on more solid grounds while shedding unreasonable expectations from both sides.
The review has continued for almost three months now, without any public commitment from Pakistan on a timeframe for finishing the process.
At a Friday afternoon briefing in Washington, State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland expressed rare public dismay at the delay. “I don’t have anything new to report on the US-Pakistan side. We are still where we’ve been, which is awaiting the completion of the internal review on the Pakistani side,” said the US official when asked about possible allocations for Pakistan in the US budget for the next fiscal year, which begins in October.
“Our sense from our contacts with the Pakistan government is that they are still trying to work through the issues, and we will be patient as they work through these things,” she added.
Pakistan’s Ambassador Sherry Rehman acknowledged that the Americans were getting impatient with the delay, but said she was not in a position to give a timeframe as all such decisions were taken in Islamabad. She, however, assured the Americans that the Pakistani parliament was also keen to rebuild this relationship.
“No one from Pakistan is looking for a confrontation with any state, and we hope that the review will present an opportunity for both countries to reset ties on more consistent, transparent and predictable lines,” she said.
At the State Department briefing, a journalist pointed out that the government of Pakistan was caught up with a host of internal issues, hopping from one judicial or political crisis to another. “So does it concern you that it could delay the completion of this parliamentary review and forwarding of recommendations to the United States?” he asked.
“We are talking about what we might expect. But again, I’m going to refer you to Pakistan because it’s subject to their process, so I think it’s they you should be asking about the timing,” Ms Nuland replied.
Once the review is done, by the end of next week as expected, Pakistan will send a set of recommendations to Washington. The US administration will then review the report and is expected to send its own recommendations to Pakistan. The two sides will then engage in intense dialogue to restart the relationship, but before they do so, they are likely to take two major confidence building measures: the re-opening of the Nato supply routes and a US apology to Pakistan over the Nov 26 attacks.
The Obama administration may send US Central Command chief General James N. Mattis to Islamabad with a formal apology after receiving Pakistan’s recommendations. Gen Mattis was scheduled to visit Islamabad this week, but the visit was postponed because f the delay in completing the parliamentary review.
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