Simon Shercliff

First Secretary Foreign Security and Policy Washington

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Friday 28 August, 2009

Pakistan's Friends

Earlier this week in Istanbul, there was a high-level "Friends of Democratic Pakistan" meeting - for the US Ambassador Holbrooke attended, and for us his direct counter-part, Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles led the team. This grouping is now almost a year old - it was inaugurated at the UN General Assembly last year. It's purpose? Pretty much what it says on the tin - Pakistan's friends wanted a forum to discuss and consult with Pakistan how they can help Pakistan to ease its political, economic and security challenges. The (then) new Pakistan government, led by President Zardari, very much welcomed this offer of support, and the Friends grouping took off.
 
There was plenty to discuss in Istanbul. We have all watched over the last several months as the Pakistan Military and Law Enforcement Agencies have engaged in a vigorous campaign to confront militancy within its own borders. The Pakistan people have supported their authorities and security services in this campaign - a welcome showing of determination from within the population to stamp out these corrosive elements within their own borders. The Government of Pakistan has followed their extensive military operations with equal determination to smooth the difficulties caused by the millions of internally displaced people - more than 1.4 million of them have now returned home. The reconstruction and rehabilitation of the affected areas of Swat and Malakand remain a high priority of the Government of Pakistan - the Friends expressed their strong support in this crucial endeavor.
 
A wide-ranging list of other priority areas for the Friends to focus on was agreed at the meeting - see the official statement. The next step is a summit-level meeting of the Friends to be held once again in the margins of the UN General Assembly - it will be co-chaired by President Zardari, President Obama and our Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.

Posted at 16:44 28 August 2009 by Simon Shercliff  |  Comments[0]

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Friday 05 June, 2009

We promise to stay, and we promise to go

One small part of President Obama's much-heralded speech in Cairo this week hit squarely the two key planks of both the US and the UK's Afghanistan/Pakistan policy: 1) a promise to bring troops out as soon as we are confident that there is no threat eminating from" violent extremists in Afghanistan and Pakistan determined to kill as many Americans [or Brits] as they possibly can"; and 2) a promise to continue building and strengthening our respective relationships with the Afghanistan and Pakistan governments and people, not least through long-term, non-military assistance programmes.

Obama said: "make no mistake: we do not want to keep our troops in Afghanistan. We seek no military bases there". To the extent that we can work out accurately the motivations of the various parts of the insurgency in Afghanistan, we continually find that straightforward nationalism plays a part (just one part). The stationing of one country's troops on another country's soil has always, and almost universally, generated this characteristic, anywhere in the world. The people of Afghanistan, of whichever ethnic group, are no exception. We need to continue to make clear that we have no designs on any form of long-term, military occupation of these proud people.

But in the same breath, this policy needs to be balanced by another clear message - again President Obama brought it out in his speech. While the US and UK, and all our other allies, want to bring our combat troops home as soon as we can, we also want to emphasise that our governments are setting up a long-term commitment to support Afghanistan and Pakistan, politically and through our respective overseas aid departments. Obama said: "we also know that military power alone is not going to solve the problems in Afghanistan and Pakistan. That is why we plan to invest $1.5 billion each year over the next five years to partner with Pakistanis to build schools and hospitals, roads and businesses, and hundreds of millions to help those who have been displaced". The UK has commited $811 million to Afghanistan over the next four years - this is one our our biggest overseas aid commitments. We need to reinforce the message at every turn that we are not going to cut and run. We will not leave both coutries to whatever fate befalls them, once we decide that the threat to us has subsided.

Posted at 17:49 05 June 2009 by Simon Shercliff  |  Comments[0]

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