Relevance to the US gives Pak advantage in talks with India - Daily News & Analysis

The scales have tipped in favour of Pakistan in the diplomatic stand-off between the two Asian rivals following the Mumbai terror strikes fourteen months ago. Soon after 26/11, Islamabad was in the doghouse and under intense international pressure to clean up its act. Pakistan has, however, extricated itself from a difficult situation, when it was regarded as a major headache for the international community, to becoming a major stake-holder in Afghanistan and in ensuring stability in the region.

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It has helped the US and Nato forces depend on the Pakistan military to win the war against al-Qaeda and Taliban. India has contributed in a small measure too. If Manmohan Singh had his way and engagement with Pakistan began soon after the meeting with his counterpart Yousaf Raza Gilani at Sharm-el Sheikh last year, then New Delhi would have been seen as talking from a position of strength. But the public was not in a mood to humour Pakistan’s civilian government. “Pakistan is riding the luck of the devil. In fact, Afghanistan has helped Pakistan time and again to become relevant to the international community,” says former foreign secretary Salman Haider. The change in tack by the US and Nato forces, articulated in both Istanbul and the London conference, has given Pakistan the opportunity they need to once again become an important political player.

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