Can Clinton turn the page for Pak-U.S. ties?

Beamed with smiles as when she arrived, Hillary Clinton left the Pakistani capital on Friday, wrapping up her first trip to the terror-torn country as the U.S. Secretary of State. Addressing local and international media at the Foreign Office on Wednesday, Clinton said that U.S. seeks to "turn the page to a new partnership" not only with the Pakistani government but the people of democratic Pakistan.

But the public concern in Pakistan is, can the sophisticated diplomat fulfill her mission, and can the two nations suffering a see-saw history base the ties on mutual trust?

PRESSING PAKISTAN

Pakistani media said Clinton's three-day visit is foremostly aimed at pressing Pakistan to fight against extremists and challenging the government to do more in the anti-terror war. At the press briefing, she said that Pakistan is not alone in fight against terrorism and U.S. would extend help to the country to achieve goals to defeat terrorism.

U.S. President Barack Obama unveiled in late March a new strategy on fighting militants groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Obama administration considers the "Af-Pak" cooperation crucial to the success of the new policy for the region, and importantly their deepest concern is Pakistan, as U.S. officials termed the mountainous tribal areas in Pakistan's northwest as the haven for al-Qaeda and Taliban.

However back in Afghanistan, the prospect has been overshadowed by the prolonged elections and the non-stop attacks. Some Obama high-ups suggested the threat facing U.S. troops in Afghanistan and even the United States itself could diminish only by wiping out the Taliban and al-Qaeda militants in the strong base of Pakistan.

In Pakistan, the militants lately launched a strong wave of terror attacks in most parts of the country, even striking the army headquarters and attempting to abduct or assassinate senior officials. Frequent brutal attacks drove the Pakistani government to advance the ground assault towards the Taliban strongholds in South Waziristan in the last two weeks.

With this backdrop, Clinton commended Pakistan military for their courageous fight and said U.S. stands "shoulder to shoulder" with Pakistani people in their fight for peace and security, in a bid to help determine the Pakistani government and the army to continue the fight.

MITIGATING MISCONCEPTION

Public opinions have it that the hard lady also came to soften the image of the United States in Pakistan. The local newspaper Dawn said the mission of Clinton is to win hearts and minds of Pakistanis by reaching out to the people and clarifying to them Washington's intentions and commitments for Pakistan.

In an interview given to Pakistani TV stations prior to her departure for Islamabad, Clinton couldn't stop talking about her preference to the Pakistani food and clothing, telling the stories that she shared memories with Pakistani friends.

Instead of just meeting with the president and the army chief, Clinton also held talks with the opposition leaders, answered questions from a long queue of college students, met with civil society leaders including women and tribal leaders and visited religious and cultural spots.

Again and again, the secretary of state said U.S. needs to base the relations with Pakistan on mutual trust and she values the people-to-people connection, stressing that she wants to mitigate the mass misconception and remove the popular resentment.

Polls show that an overwhelming majority of Pakistanis dislike and mistrust the United States, blaming Washington for using and then abandoning them after the Soviet war in Afghanistan. And they resent the U.S. now for pushing their government to fight against militants and for launching drone attacks across the Afghan-Pakistani border.

The U.S. aid through the Kerry-Lugar law which offers 7.5 billion dollars to help Pakistan over the next five years also triggers a huge controversy. Officials worry that the conditions attached to the security assistance will violate the sovereignty of Pakistan.

BROADENING PARTNERSHIP

The U.S. secretary of state said the relationship between the two countries goes far beyond security and both sides agree to work closely to deepen and broaden the bilateral ties as Pakistan continues its journey towards an effective, responsive and enduring democracy.

She said during the talks with the Pakistani foreign minister both sides agreed to resume and intensify U.S.-Pakistan strategic dialogue. She also said the United States wants to help Pakistan in economic arena, wants to help create jobs, develop infrastructure, create investment opportunities and more access to education and healthcare, especially help overcome the country's energy crisis.

Clinton said the Obama administration wants long-term partnership with Pakistan. Addressing the students of the Government College University in eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on Thursday, Clinton acknowledged that there were lost opportunities of strengthening relationship between the two countries but the United States would not repeat that history.

She promised to focus the U.S. help on the needs of the people and announced targeted commitments, including 45 million dollars to Pakistan's higher education and 125 million to Pakistan's energy project.

Analysts said that the help comes as Washington needs to enlist Pakistan as a reliable ally in this vital strategic position of Asia.

However, most Pakistanis view the Washington offer of alliance out of U.S. own interests. In fact, the Pakistani government disagrees with the United States as to weed out the suspected militants in the border region. As media commentary goes, Clinton's tour is an important start to "turn the page" of the Pakistan-U.S. ties, but there is still a long way to go.

Source: Xinhua