WASHINGTON: Events at Washington DC’s myriad think tanks are usually solemn, erudite affairs, marked by scholarship and cordiality.
But a discussion on Friday at the Hudson Institute centering an experts’ report that asked the Trump administration to take a tough new line on Pakistan turned into a raucous spectacle after the Pakistani Embassy challenged the contents through strong arguments.
One questioner was asked to leave by security after he hectored Husain Haqqani, a former Pakistani ambassador to the US who is one of the authors of the report. Soon after he left the room shouting that Haqqani had betrayed Pakistan and is a ‘’RAW agent,’’ another Pakistani diplomat took the floor saying ‘’I have the mike, I am in control,’’ and spoke about Pakistani talking points.
He emphasised the centrality of the Kashmir issue between India and Pakistan and how nothing could move forward unless U.S mediated and resolved the matter, Pakistan’s sacrifices in the war on terror , how the US has used and discarded Pakistan, and India’s subversive activities in Baluchistan.
The experts’ report asked the Trump administration to ‘’stop chasing the mirage of securing change in Pakistan’s strategic direction by giving it additional aid or military equipment,’’ and instead warn Islamabad that it would be declared a state sponsor of terrorism.
It also suggests Pakistan’s political and military elites be subjected to travel sanctions if it not change course.
The report also urges the Donald Trump administration to ‘’avoid viewing and portraying Pakistan as an ally and to deal with it as a non-ally, which has engaged in supporting the Afghan Taliban,” while recommending Washington remain engaged in Afghanistan while staying out of the Kashmir imbroglio and letting India and Pakistan resolve issues bilaterally. Agencies