Non-starter of a plan

The past few weeks have witnessed numerous significant developments for Pakistan in the international arena. The first was the announcement by the leaders of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia that the countries had signed a strategic mutual defence pact.

This was followed by the meeting in New York between US President Donald Trump and the leaders of eight Muslim countries, including Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Indonesia, Egypt, UAE and Turkiye. Not much was released about the details of the meeting officially, but it was believed to be linked to President Trump's plan for bringing about peace in Gaza and using the eight strongest and most important Muslim states in that initiative. 

It was also believed at that point that the latter would be participating in a role to lend stability and security to such an initiative and that this could entail the use of their militaries, albeit in peacekeeping roles.

This meeting was then followed by President Trump inviting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal COAS Asim Munir to the White House for a meeting that lasted over 80 minutes. And again, except for a slew of photographs prior to and of the meeting, no official statement was released by the US. Pakistan did release a statement on the meeting, but did not mention too many specifics. 

The meeting in Washington was seen by all accounts as part of a major reset of the US-Pakistan bilateral relationship. But it also attracted more than its fair share of criticism in Pakistan, with many naysayers saying that Pakistan needed to be cautious about it since, according to them, America had a history of using countries it called allies and then discarding them after ‘use’.

Of course, the US wants something, or rather some things, from Pakistan, and by the same token, Pakistan will want some things from the US as well. That's to be expected. Those who are repeatedly saying that Pakistan will be asked to do something by the US are not aware that such a demand by the world's most powerful country, is not exactly something new. Pakistan has been in this place before as well, and surely the doubters and naysayers should know that — unless their reading and understanding of history is based on YouTubers who happen to be supporters of Imran Khan and the PTI.

Also, to all those who are saying that Pakistan should be careful, of course it should be careful — but should that mean that it not engage at all with powerful nations that want to engage with it and further ties? Should it go and sulk in one corner and say, 'Absolutely not'? Or should it engage with them and seek what is in its own national interest as well?

Do the naysayers understand that with the success of Operation Bunyanum Marsoos and the shooting down of seven Indian Air Force fighter jets, this is not the same Pakistan as before? Its military has now shown that it can very much hold its own in a conventional war against the Indian military, and its air force has shown that it is perhaps among the best in the world. 

After all, which air force has shot down four Rafale jet fighters, or even one? The air battle with the Indians on the night of May 6-7 basically rewrote the playbook on air warfare and has opened the eyes of the world, with countries rushing to enhance ties with Pakistan.

The signing of the Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement with Saudi Arabia is concrete proof of this recognition of Pakistan’s rising military power and that its reach and influence is now moving beyond the South Asia region to the Middle East.

Fast forward to the press conference where President Trump had Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu standing next to him when he announced his Gaza plan. The 20-point plan was welcomed by several leaders of the eight Muslim states who had met with President Trump the week before, including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. 

However, following his tweet where the welcome was first carried, the prime minister was criticised by many for what they said was legitimising the actions of a genocidal Netanyahu. They also said that the 20-point plan made no mention of the establishment of a sovereign state of Palestine and did not address the issue of war crimes in Gaza committed by the Israeli army.

The next day, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar addressed a lengthy press conference where he was at pains to point out that the plan presented by President Trump was "not our plan" — not the plan Pakistan and the other seven Muslim states had endorsed and supported, implying that from the time of their meeting with the US president and the public announcement of the plan, something happened that substantially altered its content and proposals.

The American news website, Axios, reported that changes were made when the Israeli prime minister met with the US president prior to the plan being released at the joint press conference. The changes have been such that Pakistan immediately and publicly distanced itself from it, with Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar stating that Pakistan stood by the joint statement of the eight Muslim countries on the initiative. 

A reading of the 20-point plan presented by the US president shifts everything onto Hamas. It doesn't require Israel and its army to do anything except move back outside Gaza, but keep a buffer between Israeli territory and Gaza. It makes no effort to acknowledge the atrocities that the Palestinians had to endure and does not hold Netanyahu or the Israeli army responsible in any way for their actions.

In fact, if anything, the plan seems loaded in favour of Israel because if Hamas rejects it, which it may well do, then Trump has indicated that Israel will go all guns blazing and eliminate Hamas. Of course, it should be borne in mind that after almost two years of daily bombardments and tens of thousands of deaths, Hamas very much remains in the picture.

All eight Muslim states will likely push back against this proposal and Hamas will likely reject it. We may be back to square one — till such time as Netanyahu’s seeming stranglehold on US policy in the Middle East is somehow loosened.

The writer is a journalist based in Karachi. He tweets/posts @omar_quraishi and can be reached at: [email protected]

Disclaimer: The viewpoints expressed in this piece are the writer's own and don't necessarily reflect Geo.tv's editorial policy.

Originally published in The News