Why Pakistan is ignoring Trump’s 'do more' demand

There are several countries working to stabilize conflict-ridden Afghanistan. With that in mind, the term ‘do more’ has become a cliché.

US President Donald Trump in his recent speech, outlining his long-awaited policy on Afghanistan and South Asia, asked the Afghan, Pakistani and Indian governments to ‘do more’ in the war against terrorism, though the message to Afghanistan and India was soft and complimentary. The message to Pakistan though was harsh and condemnatory.

In comments directed at the national unity government of President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Dr. Abdullah, Trump said: “Our commitment is not unlimited, and our support is not a blank cheque. The American people expect to see real reforms and real results.” Alerting the beleaguered Afghan government about the struggle ahead, the president noted that the heaviest burden would continue to be borne by “the good people of Afghanistan and their courageous armed forces.”

As an American commentator noted, this was the first time Trump had something positive to say about the Muslims. However, in the very next sentence he warned that Washington’s commitment was not unlimited. In other words, the Afghan government needed to ‘do more’ to deserve more support.

Trump praised India, Pakistan's neighbour and rival, for being the world’s biggest democracy and welcomed its positive role in stabilising Afghanistan. He then told India the same thing he told Afghanistan, ‘do more’ to help the US in the troubled country, especially in areas of economic development. And in typical Trumpian style, he reminded India that it makes billions in trade with the United States and some of this money could be spent rebuilding Afghanistan.

Finally, he turned to Pakistan. His remarks opened with a brief, and grudging, praise of the country as a valuable US partner that had offered sacrifices in the war against terrorism. But not long after, he was lambasting it for harbouring terrorists and providing safe havens to those attacking US forces in Afghanistan despite receiving billions of dollars in aid.

Trump’s charge-sheet against Pakistan was long and his ‘do more’ mantra repetitive. This was not the first time the US had asked Pakistan to do better, as if it was Islamabad’s duty to stabilize Afghanistan. As a far less resourceful country confronted with serious security, economic and political problems, Pakistan was expected to accomplish what the 140,000 US-led Nato forces from some of the most advanced countries couldn’t do over a period of 16 years.

A common refrain in Trump’s speech was his emphasis on money that the US had given to Afghanistan and Pakistan in aid and to India as a result of bilateral trade. As a smart, wealthy businessman, he talked of the billions of dollars that the US had already spent without achieving its objectives in Afghanistan. Trump didn’t lay out the expected cost of the next phase of the Afghan war that he wants to win at all costs. Considering the fact that almost one trillion dollars have already been spent on the unwinnable war against the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, Daesh and other assorted militant and terrorist groups, the cost of an open-ended conflict would be enormous.

Perhaps, Trump wants to recover this cost by mining Afghanistan’s mineral resources buried under the earth, but that cannot happen unless the war is won and peace restored in the country.

As for Pakistan, it seems to have decided to largely ignore the ‘do more’ demands unless its security concerns regarding India’s growing influence in Afghanistan and the existence of safe havens of anti-Pakistan militants are addressed. In fact, many Pakistanis now want their government to say ‘no more’ in response to the US demands to ‘do more’.

- Yusufzai is the Resident Editor of The News International in Peshawar