EDITORIAL Daily Times : NATO supply deal, finally

Posted by on August 2, 2012 in Pakistan | Comments Off

EDITORIAL Daily Times : NATO supply deal, finally

In a display of exquisite timing, Pakistan and the US signed the long delayed agreement on the restoration of NATO supplies for Afghanistan just one day before the new ISI chief, Lieutenant General Zaheerul Islam, began a maiden three-day visit to Washington for talks with the head of the CIA. The agreement, according to press reports, runs till 2015, one year after the US/NATO forces are scheduled to depart. It is renewable for one-year intervals beyond that date. The agreement will pave the way for the release by the US of the Coalition Support Funds owed to Pakistan and held up for two years, worth $ 1.18 billion. The agreement prohibits arms and ammunition being transported through Pakistan for NATO/ISAF, but permits shipments of lethal cargo for the Afghan armed forces. Although the containers will be scanned at the port of entry (Karachi) and the exit points at Chaman and Torkham, and also be tracked with special radio chips, it is not clear how the Pakistani authorities will distinguish between shipments of weapons for the Afghan armed forces and NATO/ISAF. There is a clause in the agreement that allows Pakistan to refuse any shipment that falls outside agreed parameters, and even a quit clause if relations hit a bump in the road again. After the interminably delayed apology by the US for the Salala incident, Pakistan dropped its demand for an increase in container fees. No taxes or duties will be imposed on the cargo but commercial carriers will have to pay a fee. New fees can be introduced for quick transfer of cargo. No warehousing or storage facilities will be provided by Pakistan, and no new NOCs will be required, but Pakistan will ensure security. Containers for Afghanistan will have to return via Pakistan, and could conceivably carry US/NATO weapons and equipment being withdrawn. The agreement as revealed is not very different from existing practice, but it does have the benefit of being written down to avoid ambiguity and differences. One important issue that had dogged the long drawn negotiations to arrive at the agreement seems either to have been missed or may be discussed separately: the issue of damage to Pakistan’s highways under the enormous load of these convoys.

In another development, US ambassador-designate to Pakistan Richard Olson, who brings to his new job considerable experience as the deputy head of mission in Kabul until his new assignment, in testimony to his confirmation hearings in the US Congress has expressed his intent to build on the opportunity provided by the restoration of NATO supplies and the better atmospherics between Washington and Islamabad. Of course, the contentious issues that have divided the two ostensible allies in recent years will remain, including the issues of the Haqqani network and the drone attacks. No doubt these will be on the table in the talks in Washington between the ISI and CIA chiefs. Recent reports suggest that the Pakistani military is less enthusiastic about the Haqqani network since it offered the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan safe havens across the border in its areas of influence in order to mount cross-border attacks on Pakistani security forces. Other reports, including Pakistani ambassador to the US Sherry Rehman’s remarks to a conference in Aspen, Colorado, suggest that the military is reassessing, if it has not abandoned, the notion of strategic depth in Afghanistan that provided so much of the underpinning for hedging Pakistan’s bets in post-withdrawal Afghanistan through its jihadi proxies. If this proves true, it not only reflects a recognition by the military that the dynamics of the situation have changed, not the least of which is perhaps a divergence between it and its erstwhile proxies, but that a Taliban push for exclusive power in Kabul after 2014 would only ignite fresh conflict from which Pakistan may not escape unscathed. That recognition could perhaps open the door for Pakistan to be part of the endgame in a positive way, rather than at odds with its ostensible western allies. This may prove the better outcome, both for Afghanistan as well as Pakistan, not to mention the region and the world. *

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\08\02\story_2-8-2012_pg3_1

About K4Kashmir

PROFILE OF Dr SHABIR CHOUDHRY Dr Shabir Choudhry was born in Nakker Shamali (near Panjeri) in District Bhimber, Azad Kashmir. He went to UK in 1966, and holds a dual nationality. Dr Shabir Choudhry has done extensive research on the issue of Kashmir and Indo Pakistan relations. He passed BA Honours in Politics and History, and Mphil in International Relations (title of the thesis, ‘Kashmir and Partition of India’); and title of his PhD thesis is ‘Kashmir- An issue of a nation not a dispute of a land’. Apart from this Dr Shabir Choudhry passed Post Graduates Certificates in Education, and NVQ Assessor’s qualifications; and taught English in London. Political Achievements Founder member of JKLF (Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front established in 1977) and got elected as a Press Secretary in 1984. • Became its Secretary General in 1985, and resigned from this post in 1996. • Got elected President of JKLF and Europe in May 1999, and decided not to contest in elections of July 2001. • Said good - bye to the JKLF as it is in many groups and is largely seen as advancing a Pakistani agenda on Kashmir dispute, and set up a new party Kashmir National Party in May 2008. . At present, he is: • Spokesman Kashmir National Party and Director Diplomatic Committee; • Founder member and Director Institute of Kashmir Affairs; Previously • A founder Member and Trustee/ Director of London based registered charity, Kashmir Foundation International and resigned from this position in August 2001. • Regularly take part in the Sessions of the UN Human Rights (Commission) now Council in Geneva; and address various conferences and seminars to oppose violence and highlight the Kashmir cause. • Have addressed dozens of seminars and conferences in the British Parliament, European Parliament and other important capitals of the world on issue of Kashmir, violence and terrorism. • Addressed as a key note speaker in a Conference at New Delhi arranged by Jawahar Lal Nehru University. • Participated in a Round Table Conference on Kashmir, organised by Socialist Group of European Parliament in Brussels in 1993. • Addressed as a Chief Guest in a seminar on issue of Mangla Dam during the UN Sub Commission’s proceedings in August 2003. • Addressed as a key - note speaker in a seminar on the issue of Gilgit and Baltistan, organised by Association of British Kashmiris. • Addressed as a keynote speaker on human rights conference in Paris in 1991. • Addressed at Cambridge University as a Chief Guest in a conference on Kashmir in 1990. • Addressed as a keynote speaker at New Delhi conference on Kashmir, which was part of Track Two diplomacy in November 2000. • In September 2008, addressed a Conference arranged by Interfaith International in Geneva, topic of which was: “Kashmir Issue, Terrorism and Human Rights”. • Addressed as a speaker in a NGO Conference on Self - Determination in Geneva in August 2000. • Addressed as a keynote speaker in a fringe meeting of Liberal Democrats at their Annual Conference in Brighton in 1995. • Participated in World Human Rights Conference in Vienna in 1993. • Before President Clinton's visit to India and Pakistan in 2000, lead a JKLF delegation to the State Department to discuss Kashmir dispute and situation in South Asia. • Also had two rounds of meetings with senior State Department officials before President Musharraf’s meeting to Washington in June 2003. • Apart from that had meetings with senior officials including Ministers of different countries, and also held many meetings with the State Department and Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials on number of occasions. • Played important role in advancing a Kashmiri perspective on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir; and also helped Baroness Emma Nicholson with her report ‘Kashmir: present situation and future prospects’, which was adopted by the European Parliament in May 2007. • Won first prize in an essay competition in Urdu in 1976. It was organised by High Commission of Pakistan in London, and title of the essay was 'Qaaid-e- Azam's role in Islamic History'. • Apart from that have addressed conferences in Brussels, Geneva, Toronto, Islamabad, Delhi, and Publications • Got first Urdu novel ‘Fareena’ published at the age of eighteen. • Second Urdu novel ‘Bay-Khataa’ which was about the problems of Asian youths living in UK published in 1983. • Third Urdu book ‘Pakistan and Kashmiri struggle for independence’ published in 1990. • Fourth Urdu book is also on Kashmiri struggle, 'Is an independent Kashmir a conspiracy?' • Apart from that has twenty five books and booklets published in English on various aspects of the Kashmiri struggle. • Recent publications are: Kashmir dispute as I see it • Different perspective on Kashmir • JKLF visit to Pakistan Administered Kashmir • Kashmir Needs a Change of Heart • If not self - determination then what? • Emma Nicholson report- who has won? • Struggle for independence, Jihad or proxy war (Introduction by Baroness Emma Nicholson) • Why 22 October 1947 is important in Kashmiri history? • New dimensions of the Kashmiri struggle. The following books are published by a German company and available on www.amazon.co.uk • New Round of the 'Great Game', ISBN 978-3-639-33084-7 • Liberation Struggle, Jihad or a Proxy War, ISBN 978-3-639-33424-1 • Kashmir Dispute: New Dimensions and New Challenges ISBN 978-3-639-33566-8 • Kashmir Dispute and Peace in South Asia ISBN 978-3-639-33732-7 • Terrorism, Kashmir Dispute and Possible Solutions ISBN 978-3-639-34239-0 • Kashmir And The Partition of India, (my Mphil research) ISBN 978-3-639-34801-9 • Kashmir – an Issue of a Nation not Dispute of a Land, (my PhD research) 978-3-639-35593-2 • Are Kashmiris part of the Kashmir Dispute? 978-3-639-37225-0 • A brief background Dr Shabir Choudhry was born in a small village called Nakker Shamali (near Panjeri) in District Bhimber, Azad Kashmir. He went to UK in 1966, and like other people from the region, holds a dual nationality. He left secondary school in 1970 with no qualifications and began his life as a textile worker. In 1975 he started part time studies and passed Matriculation from Government High School Panjeri, passed ‘O’ and ‘A’ levels from UK, and resumed full time degree course in 1981, and passed BA (Hons) in Politics and History in 1984. He continued full time and part time jobs until he got his Mphil. He passed his PGCE (Post Graduates Certificate in Education) in 1990, and then started full time job as a Lecturer. Due to health problems he resigned from teaching in 1999. At present he is self - employed, provides private tuition, translation and interpretation and consultancy. Through out his adult life he has actively worked for the cause of Kashmir, and even during long illness he effectively carried out his responsibilities as a leader of the JKLF, a ‘prolific writer’ and consistent campaigner of Rights Movement and peace in Jammu and Kashmir and South Asia. Dr Shabir Choudhry Email:drshabirchoudhry@googlemail.com Telephone: 0044 (0)7790942471

Comments are closed.