[“The U.S. presidential invitation is meant to acknowledge Pakistan’s role vis-a-vis the Afghan peace process and to say thanks,” said Muhammad Amir Rana, an Islamabad-based analyst. It is likely that multiple issues will be discussed, he said. But “I don’t see something very big coming out of this trip,” he added.]
By Shaiq Hussain and Jon Gerberg
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Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan attends a session of the
Shanghai Cooperation
Organization summit in Kyrgyzstan in June. (Alexei Druzhinin/AP)
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ISLAMABAD
— When Pakistani Prime
Minister Imran Khan arrives at the White House on Monday for his meeting with
President Trump, the leaders are expected to discuss counterterrorism, defense,
energy and trade. But many in Pakistan’s capital hope the visit accomplishes
something more: a reset in Islamabad-Washington ties.
Khan’s first visit to Washington as Pakistani
premier comes amid a chill in the allies’ relationship. The two first-term
leaders have sparred over social media, and Trump last year suspended $300
million in aid to Pakistan over what the U.S. government said was Pakistan’s
failure to crack down on militancy within its borders.
In what was seen as a move motivated by
Khan’s visit, police in Pakistan on Wednesday arrested Hafiz Saeed, a U.S.-designated
terrorist who has lived openly in the country on and off for years. Trump
praised the arrest on Twitter.
The White House visit “offers the leadership
of both countries new opportunities towards resetting the bilateral
relationship,” Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Pakistan’s foreign minister, said in a
speech in Islamabad on Tuesday.
The United States and Pakistan have been
allies in the war on terrorism since 2001, when the United States launched
military operations in Afghanistan to root out al-Qaeda militants and overthrow
the Taliban after the 9/11 attacks.
Last year, after announcing the aid cuts to
Pakistan, Trump took to Twitter to accuse Pakistan of being “just one of many
countries that take from the United States without giving anything in return.”
Khan hit back that the Trump administration
was “making Pakistan a scapegoat for their failures” and emphasized the human
and economic sacrifices that his country has made in supporting the U.S.-led
war on terrorism. He said his country had suffered 75,000 casualties and lost
more than $120 billion.
In Pakistan, the U.S. invitation is viewed as
an opportunity to repair relations.
“The U.S.-Pakistan engagement has long needed
a shake-up,” wrote Moeed Yusuf, a Washington analyst, in Dawn, a leading
Pakistani daily. “Khan and Trump, both of whom pride themselves for going after
the seemingly impossible, are the right people to provide it.”
Others are less optimistic.
“The U.S. presidential invitation is meant to
acknowledge Pakistan’s role vis-a-vis the Afghan peace process and to say
thanks,” said Muhammad Amir Rana, an Islamabad-based analyst. It is likely that
multiple issues will be discussed, he said. But “I don’t see something very big
coming out of this trip,” he added.
Some also view it as an acknowledgment of
Pakistan’s positive role in the peace talks in neighboring Afghanistan.
The Trump administration sought Pakistani
assistance last year to bring Taliban leaders to the negotiating table. Seven
rounds of peace talks have been completed, and there are signs of progress.
[Trump asks Pakistan for help with Afghan
peace]
Qureshi, the Pakistani foreign minister, in
Islamabad emphasized his government’s intent “to work for broader engagement
from Afghanistan to bilateral economic and trade cooperation to peace and
stability in South Asia.”
Many bilateral issues will be on the table
Monday, including an expansion of trade, commercial ties and energy
cooperation. The United States has worked for years with Pakistani institutions
to steer millions of dollars into the country’s energy sector.
Khan may also seek Trump’s support for the
resumption of peace talks with Pakistan’s nuclear rival, India.
The United States “has always been an active
player whenever tensions have escalated between Pakistan and India,” Qureshi
said. “We hope that the leadership of the two countries in Washington can agree
on the imperative of resuming a sustained and result-oriented dialogue.”
Another issue probably on Khan’s agenda is to
avoid the financial blacklisting of his country.
In 2018, an international financial watchdog
placed Pakistan on its “gray list” for deficiencies in its policing of money
laundering and terrorism financing. The threat of being blacklisted now looms
with a deadline to reform by October. The United States is one of 39 members of
the intergovernmental body, known as the Financial Action Task Force.
Regardless of what is accomplished, many see
the meeting as an important first step toward mutual recognition.
“The U.S. realizes that without Pakistan’s
role, there will be no end to the war in Afghanistan. On the other hand,
Pakistan also needs the U.S. for the revival of its struggling economy. They
need the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and Asian Development Bank to
improve their economy, and the U.S. has leverage in all of these institutions,”
said Hasan Askari Rizvi, a Pakistani analyst based in Lahore.
“Both sides know they need each other.”
Gerberg reported from Kabul.
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