American Ambassador Cameron Munter has, in an interview with the BBC, said that the reopening of Nato supplies was in Pakistan’s own benefit; affecting 50 countries, the issue had isolated it in the world. One must differ with him and say that this is the not the whole story; the Nato countries, with their economies in tatters, were being badly hit and were bitterly complaining about the much costlier and more hazardous Central Asian route they had been compelled to take, instead. Thus, it was their problem as well. Grace demanded that the top US diplomat in the country acknowledged the decision to unblock the transit facility with gratitude, especially as it had been made unconditionally, and had lifted the burden of excessive expenditure on the US and its allies. That could also have gone some way to assuage the feelings of the people of Pakistan.

However¸ Mr Munter went on to resurrect the phantom of terrorists’ sanctuaries in Pakistan’s tribal region and echoed the views Afghan President Hamid Karzai had expressed at Tokyo, who had said that the world could not be safe till the terror havens outside Afghanistan continued to operate – a pointed reference to the oft mentioned Haqqani network in Pakistan, that the US and Afghanistan allege dispatch militants across the border to launch strikes at their interests. Answering a question, about whether the sudden comedown by Pakistan after steadfastly refusing to lift the ban for seven months could be attributed to the Congress move to declare the Haqqanis as terrorists, he replied that he did not feel the decision was made in a hurry. He felt that the gesture of reopening the route had opened the door for progress on other challenges and urged Pakistan to become part of the solution and not of the problem. While responding to a question about the US attitude on the Iranian gas pipeline, Mr Munter remarked that power shortage was not an issue in Pakistan; it was just bad management, the need for reforms and higher tariffs. Yes, bad management is one aspect. But Pakistan’s being a power deficient country is widely acknowledged in the world. Power is in short supply in the country if not in terms of possible capacity for the present population, but certainly also for the burgeoning addition to it.
Another revelation of Mr Munter that, in his meetings with the PML-N President Mian Nawaz Sharif and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan, he noted that they were fully supportive of the US has raised many an eyebrow. For, in their public utterances, both give an unambiguous impression of strong opposition to US policies, especially in the region. It is in the fitness of things for both the leaders of these mainstream parties to come forward and give their comments. It is important for the people to know the difference between disagreeing with US policies and being anti-US. The two are not the same. And thus, while Mr Munter is correct in one sense, he conveniently glossed over the fact that the resistance of both parties to US policies does not mean that they are enemies of the American people as a whole.