Heads of state do not typically flock to oversee military exercises in which their country’s troops are participating. But war games in Saudi Arabia are clearly an exception.
Our prime minister and army chief last week joined dignitaries ranging from Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi to Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to watch the ‘Thunder of the North’ military exercises — the largest in the region, involving forces from 20 Muslim-majority countries.
Pakistan’s hearty participation in the exercises once again raises questions about the bilateral relationship with Saudi Arabia. The exercises follow Riyadh’s surprise announcement in December of a 34-member coalition to fight terrorism, in which Pakistan’s involvement appeared a fait accompli. The kingdom has announced that the coalition will share intelligence and develop strategies to combat violent extremist ideologies, but also deploy troops if necessary.
Examine: Pakistan joins 'Thunder of the North' military exercise in Saudi Arabia
Clarity is required on Pakistan’s ties with the Saudis.
Pakistan’s Senate last month expressed concerns about Pakistan’s inclusion in the coalition, fearing that it would drag the country into the Syrian conflict. Our participation in last week’s exercises may lead us down a slippery slope on which we cannot embark without a better understanding of the implications.
Most importantly, the public deserves a clearer indication of the potential for Pakistani troops to become involved in conflicts in Syria and Yemen as a result of growing counterterrorism cooperation with Saudi Arabia, particularly after parliament in April last year decided against sending Pakistani troops to join the Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Transparency regarding military cooperation with the kingdom is particularly important given growing concerns that Saudi Arabia has violated international laws and allegedly committed war crimes by systematically targeting civilians during the conflict in Yemen. Western governments that sell arms to Saudi Arabia are increasingly under pressure by human rights groups to cease supplies to it for use in Yemen. In the UK, a cross-party committee is investigating British arms sales to Saudi Arabia while a high court is determining whether such sales have violated British and EU arms export laws.
Pakistanis also need greater transparency around the transactional parameters of the relationship with Saudi Arabia; in other words, how true is the perception that Pakistan is a gun for hire in exchange for subsidised fuel and bailouts?
While the military exercises were under way, Saudi Arabia also signed economic agreements worth $122 million with Pakistan, of which $67m are grants, rather than loans, to support infrastructure development and the construction of a college, hospital and housing. This is officially the largest amount of financial assistance Riyadh has provided over the past five years — the ‘gift’ of $1.5 billion in March 2014 remains off the books.
Officials on both sides have stated that the assistance is not linked to Pakistan’s participation in the coalition. Parliament’s decision not to engage in Yemen despite the receipt a year earlier of the $1.5bn ‘gift’ lends credence to the suggestion that the relationship is not brutally transactional. But only greater transparency can address lingering concerns about what Pakistan gets in exchange for its military support of Saudi Arabia, and at what greater cost.
Similar clarity is required regarding pressure tactics beyond financial inducements that might be deployed to ensure Pakistani support. Around 1.5 million Pakistanis work in Saudi Arabia and their remittances help keep the economy afloat. To what extent would these be vulnerable were Pakistan to take a firm stance against further military involvement in Middle Eastern conflicts? Would crude oil imports be affected?
If Pakistan is to be a member of the coalition, it should also work closely with the kingdom under the auspices of the National Action Plan to clamp down on terrorism financing within Pakistan and enlist Riyadh’s support to push through madressah reforms here. However, there has to date been little discussion of how the kingdom, and the coalition, might bolster Pakistan’s CT initiatives that are already under way.
The focus on Pakistan’s military might also detracts from the fact that the country has an excellent track record for participating in UN peacekeeping missions and a long history of managing refugee and IDP crises. Rather than dispatch troops to become embroiled in murky conflicts, Pakistan could demonstrate its alliance with Gulf partners by playing a productive role and bringing stability through support during ceasefire agreements and with the regional refugee crisis.
Given its sensitivity to the sectarian dimension of Middle Eastern conflicts, Pakistan is also well positioned to facilitate back-channel negotiations to help resolve regional crises. The evolving situation in the Middle East provides Pakistan with an opportunity to recast itself not in terms of nukes and troops, but as diplomatic interlocutor with crisis management experience. Will our government seize this moment to shape, and clarify, the future course of the relationship with the kingdom?
The writer is a freelance journalist.
huma.yusuf@gmail.com
Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2016
CHAKWAL: The transfer of Assistant Commissioner (AC) Talagang Waseem Ahmad Khan on Friday shocked residents as he had been working on making Talagang a modern city.
According to sources, DCO Chakwal and Malik Saleem Iqbal, an adviser to the chief minister Punjab, had been trying to get the assistant commissioner transferred.
In three previous attempts, they failed as the commissioner Rawalpindi division was not in favour of his removal. But in the fourth attempt, the AC was transferred.
Mr Waseem had launched an operation against encroachments in Talagang under which the buildings of many influential people were demolished. He had been at loggerheads with District Coordination Officer (DCO) Mehmood Javed Bhatti over the encroachment drive.
“The across-the-board operation against encroachments was launched by the assistant commissioner. The move was opposed by the DCO but the AC did not care as according to the law a DCO cannot interfere in the affairs of the tehsil municipal administration,” a source privy to the development told Dawn.
Under the operation, a store owned by a relative of Malik Saleem Iqbal was demolished while a hotel owned by the district general secretary of the PML-N was also razed.
When contacted, Malik Saleem Iqbal denied his involvement in the transfer of the assistant commissioner.
“I have no role in his transfer,” he claimed but added that the assistant commissioner had launched the encroachment operation in haste.
“He should have launched the operation after taking all the stakeholders, including politicians and traders, into confidence.”
He said being an adviser to the chief minister he was entitled to have sanitary workers deployed at his residence. “He removed the sanitary workers from my residence but I did not oppose his decision,” he claimed.
DCO Mehmood Javed Bhatti confirmed to Dawn that he had written a letter to the higher authorities in Lahore demanding the transfer of Mr Waseem. “His attitude had been problematic that was why I demanded his transfer.”
The DCO also admitted that he had differences with the working style of the AC who launched the operation against encroachments in a hasty manner.
Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2016
BEIRUT: The Syrian conflict has had outsized impact on global politics. Five ways the world has changed:
1. Rise of IS
It was in the vacuum of the deteriorating Syria conflict that a little-known and horrifically violent branch of Al Qaeda grew into the foremost terror group on the planet.
In 2014, the militant Islamic State group completed its takeover of the eastern Syria city of Raqqa and went on to conquer Iraq’s Mosul. It eventually took over an area straddling the countries’ border the size of Britain — absorbing weapons, wealth and personnel along the way. The expansion went largely unchecked by the Syrian government, busy fighting opponents in its more populated regions closer to the Mediterranean coast.
IS has sparked deep anxieties in the region and around the world by slaughtering minorities, institutionalising sex slavery, vanquishing state armies and killing opponents in gruesome spectacles of violence. It destroyed heritage sites, such as temples in the ancient city of Palmyra, and fuelled the global antiquities trade.
The group has waged terror attacks from France to Yemen and has established a beachhead in northern Libya that could outlast its so-called “caliphate” in Syria and Iraq. Perhaps most confounding, thousands of young men and women from Europe — not all of Muslim origin — have flocked to join it.
2. Resurgent Russia
“There is one man on this planet who can end the civil war in Syria by making a phone call and that’s Mr. Putin,” British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said recently.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has established a renewed Middle East foothold after watching for years as the United States called shots in the region. Last September, after showering arms, advisers and economic assistance on President Bashar al-Assad to insufficient effect, Putin sent his air force to pound the Syrian government’s opponents. The recent ebb in violence is largely because Russia dictated it. Russia’s designs for Syria are still veiled, but whoever leads Syria next will largely owe their chair to Putin.
Before Syria, there was Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine in 2014, precursors to the current intervention, where Putin was unafraid to show the lengths he would go to protect perceived Russian interests. Now, Russia is positioned as a major broker in the region with significant oil and gas wealth. Expect political movements of all stripes to ask how Russia can serve their interests.
3. Europe destabilised
When Europe fashioned its open border agreements late last century, it did not anticipate over a million migrants — mostly refugees from Syria — in one year alone, as happened in 2015. Thousands have died trying to cross by sea, posing a moral challenge for the continent. The stream, which continues unabated, has brought on both generosity and xenophobia, ultimately shaking the open-border arrangement to the core.
Europeans are now erecting barriers along the migrants’ Balkan route from Greece to Germany, after initially allowing entry to hundreds of thousands. Multitudes fester in squalid conditions in south-eastern Europe. Many face legal limbo around the continent, waiting for asylum applications to be processed or residing without permits.
The IS attack on Paris in November, though largely perpetrated by French and Belgian nationals, sparked security recriminations across Europe and boosted nationalist politicians. Echoes could be heard as far away as the United States, where Republican front-runner Donald Trump shocked many by proposing a ban on Muslims entering the country.
Europe is now exploring a deal to send all migrants arriving in Greece back to Turkey, in exchange for admitting pre-selected refugees from Syria. On top of its currency crisis, the mass migration has strained Europe’s unity to the limit.
4. Neighbours subverted
Europe’s migrant crisis is dwarfed by the wave of displacement that has washed into Syria’s neighbours. Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan alone host around 4.4 million refugees from Syria; in Lebanon, they make up more than one-fifth of the population.
Syrian refugees have brought capital and labour and produced mixed economic outcomes in their host societies, depending on what figures are consulted.
The Syria conflict has also ensnared militias and state actors across the region, destabilising fragile neighbours like Lebanon and reawakening ethnic tensions in Turkey, where the Syria conflict has provoked concerns of a civil war with the Kurds.
5. Iran ascendant
The Syria conflict has rebalanced regional axes of power. Predominantly Shia Iran’s sphere of influence now extends from Beirut to Tehran, with dependent governments in Baghdad and Damascus. The commander of the elite Quds Force of the vaunted Revolutionary Guards, General Qassem Soleimani, has visited Russia and is often seen directing deployments in Syria and Iraq. Iran has militias in both countries said to operate outside sovereign command structures.
In Lebanon, Iran is powerfully represented by Hezbollah, the party-militia hybrid that expelled Israel from the south of the country in 2000. It has sent thousands of fighters to prop up Assad in Syria. Israel glumly watches its nemesis training with modern artillery alongside Russian and Iranian contingents, and fortifying its position along the Jewish state’s northern border. Hezbollah steadily marginalises Saudi-backed opponents in Lebanon’s government.
Saudi Arabia, the regional Sunni powerhouse, is struggling to maintain support for the mainly Sunni rebels it backs in Syria while also fighting Iran-supported Shia rebels in Yemen.—AP
Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2016
Syria war: UN envoy opens peace talks in Geneva
As critical negotiations begin, UNICEF reports 80 percent of Syrian children have been harmed by the five-year war.
14 Mar 2016 12:23 GMT |Al-Jazeera
![Staffan de Mistura spoke to reporters on Monday morning, moments before resuming 'proximity talks' [Ruben Sprich/Reuters]](http://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/imagecache/mbdxxlarge/mritems/Images/2016/3/14/6c2bfef48d1a4e64bed7729f810f4c3e_18.jpg "Syria war: UN envoy opens peace talks in Geneva")
Staffan de Mistura spoke to reporters on Monday morning, moments before resuming 'proximity talks' [Ruben Sprich/Reuters]
The United Nations special envoy for Syria says the resumption of peace talks between Syrian government envoys and representatives of the opposition is a "moment of truth" for the war-torn nation.
Staffan de Mistura spoke to reporters on Monday moments before "proximity talks" were resumed in Geneva, a month after they were suspended amid an upsurge in violence in Syria.
Repeating his line that there is no "plan B" - other than a return to war - De Mistura asked to hear from all sides of the conflict but said he would have no hesitation in calling in the big powers, led by the United States and Russia, if the talks get bogged down.
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Syrians still waiting for peace, five years on
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"If during these talks and in the next rounds we see no notice of any willingness to negotiate ... we will bring the issue back to those who have influence, and that is the Russian Federation, the US ... and the Security Council," he told a news conference.
The talks came as he said a "fragile" ceasefire had largely held since February 27, and humanitarian aid deliveries had resumed in recent weeks.
Al Jazeera's Diplomatic Editor James Bays, reporting from Geneva, said De Mistura wanted negotiations to focus on "substantive issues", including a new constitution and UN-monitored elections, but that the government and opposition were far apart on the future of President Bashar al-Assad.
Bays said the envoy was likely to proceed with an abundance of caution as talks opened.
"Mr de Mistura, throughout this, has been very keen to be positive and keep the momentum growing, because he knows there really are different crunch issues and if he was to dive into those straight away, the talks would collapse," he said.
"Yes, he says he wants substantive talks. Yes, he says he is going to deal with the mother of all issues - political transition - but he is going to do it very carefully."
TALK TO AL JAZEERA: Staffan de Mistura says no 'plan B' for Syria
Syria's main opposition group, the High Negotiations Committee, or HNC, has announced it expects Geneva discussions to include Assad's departure and a timeframe for elections.
However, Bashar Jaafari, leading the government delegation to Switzerland, said in an interview with Syrian state TV late on Sunday that the opposition's discussions on removing Assad were an attempt to derail the peace talks before they had even begun.
As the negotiations opened on Monday, the UN agency for children highlighted the humanitarian crisis on the ground in Syria - saying more than 80 percent of Syria's children had been harmed by the five-year-old conflict.
UNICEF said a third of Syrians under the age of 18, or about 3.7 million, were born since the uprising against Assad erupted in 2011 and escalated into a full-blown civil war.
The fighting has killed more than 250,000 people and displaced almost half the country's pre-war population of 23 million.
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Inside Story - Is federalism the answer in Syria?
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Source: Al Jazeera and agencies
THE passage of almost three decades has provided ample time for this country to recognise the disservices done to it by the Zia dictatorship.
As such, it is unfortunate that even now, in ways big and small, we continue to suffer from that regime’s divisive and backward-looking tactics and policies.
Consider, for example, the Grade 12 sociology textbooks that are being taught in Punjab. The issue was raised in the Senate on Friday by Senator Mir Kabir: the Baloch have been disparaged in the textbook, with words such as “uncivilised” being used for them.
Also read: Describing Baloch as ‘uncivilised’ in textbook irks Senators
Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani said that this syllabus had been prepared under an ordinance promulgated during Gen Zia’s days in power. It really is nothing less than “stabbing the nation in the back”, as the Leader of the House Raja Zafarul Haq commented.
And especially in the context of the legitimate grievances the people of the province have long held against the state, that such commentary remains on the books goes a long way towards revealing the priorities of successive leaderships.
While this piece of mischief must immediately be rectified, it provides good reason to look into curriculum reform in general. It is well known that portions of texts being used to ‘educate’ the young in the country carry prevarications and obfuscations if not downright misinformation; some texts are laced with troubling views; and others can be seen as divisive.
Even the text that came under fire in the Senate contains other problematic statements: as pointed out by Mr Rabbani, the book teaches students the ‘benefits’ of dictatorship, and while the break-up of the country is dealt with in one paragraph, there is no mention at all of the long struggle for democracy this country undertook.
There can be little argument that students raised on antediluvian syllabi will make for a poor future.
Even as the prime minister promises to put every child in school, his government needs to ensure that the schooling being provided is worth having.
Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2016
AFP — THE DAWN/14.03.2016
RAMALLAH: Israel on Sunday refused to allow Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi to visit the occupied West Bank, where she was to hold talks with Palestinian leaders, the Palestinian foreign ministry said.
Israeli authorities control access to the West Bank, where the Palestinian political capital Ramallah is located.
Marsudi was to hold talks in Ramallah with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and her counterpart Riad al-Malki, according to a statement from the Palestinian foreign ministry. She also planned to open an honorary consular office, it said.
Marsudi will instead meet Malki in neighbouring Jordan, according to the statement. Israel and Indonesia do not have formal diplomatic relations.
Israel’s foreign ministry declined to comment and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office did not immediately respond to a query. Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Marsudi was refused access to Ramallah after declining to also visit Jerusalem and meet with Israeli officials there.
The incident follows a call by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation earlier this month for a ban on products from Israeli settlements in the occupied territories.
The call came at the end of an OIC summit held in the Indonesian capital Jakarta. Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country.
Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2016
NEW DELHI: After frequent allegations of incursions in Ladakh area, Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops have been spotted at forward posts along the Line of Control (LoC) on the Pakistani side of Kashmir, ringing alarm bells in the security grid, Press Trust of India said on Sunday.
It said the army had spotted the presence of senior PLA officials at the forward posts opposite Nowgam sector in North Kashmir after which some intercepts of Pakistani army officers suggested that the Chinese troops have come to create some infrastructure along the LoC, sources in the know of development told PTI.
It said although the army had officially maintained complete silence on the issue it was constantly updating various intelligence agencies about the alleged presence of PLA troops along the LoC.
The Chinese troops were first spotted in the later part of last year and ever since their presence was witnessed opposite Tangdhar sector as well, PTI said. In this area, Chinese government-owned China Gezhouba Group Company Limited has been building Neelum-Jhelum 970MW Hydel project, it said.
The hydel project is being built in response to India’s Kishanganga power project being built in Bandipore of North Kashmir. The Indian project is designed to divert water from the Kishanganga River to a power plant in the Jhelum River basin and will have an installed capacity of 330MW, according to the report.
Construction on the project began in 2007 and is expected to be completed this year.
The intercepts also suggested that Chinese PLA would be digging some tunnels in Leepa Valley, located in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, to build an all-weather road which would serve as an alternate route to reach Karakoram Highway.
PTI said the visit by PLA officials is seen by Indian experts as part of Beijing’s $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor under which Gwadar port is linked to Chinese Xinjiang province through Karakoram highway, an area India considers to be under illegal occupation of China.
Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2016
