Headlines
Obama's India visit a big development: Pakistani daily
Islamabad, Jan 25
US President Barack Obama's
visit to India for the country's Republic Day celebrations is a "big
development" and Islamabad must "ensure it does not suffer as a new era
of US-India relations gets underway", even though "there is an element
of playing to the gallery" involved in such visits, leading Pakistani
dailies said Sunday.
"Obama's arrival in India in connection with
the Republic Day celebrations is a big development," the Daily Times
said in an editorial.
"A triangular conundrum exists among
Pakistan, India and the US. It is the policy of the US to build friendly
relations with both India and Pakistan, and not with one at the expense
of the other. During the ongoing recession, the huge potential of the
Indian economy has become vital for the US."
It said that India
is potentially a very big market for the US, whose economy could be
lifted out of the doldrums through the sale of weapons to India.
The daily added the US considers India a possible counterweight to China in the region.
"With
regards to Pakistan, the trust deficit between the US and Pakistan due
the duality of policies of Pakistan in the past, which still causes
suspicion, despite a belated crackdown against militants, stated now to
be irrespective of 'good' Taliban and 'bad' Taliban and their
supporters."
The Pakistan government is still unsure how to deal with elements that support the Taliban, the newspaper said.
It,
however, added that the US knows the difficulties of Pakistan and it
has understood terrorism cannot be eliminated through a military
crackdown only and that is why Washington has not discontinued its aid
programme for Islamabad despite hostile opposition from the
Republican-dominated US Congress.
Another leading Pakistani daily, The News, said the agenda Obama's visit will be primarily economic.
"India
is currently in a battle with China to be the primary regional power
and any signs that the US is decisively shifting towards it will not be
taken too well in Beijing," it said.
The editorial said that for
Pakistan the worry may be that greater economic cooperation will
automatically be followed by further political cooperation, leaving
Pakistan out in the cold.
Pakistan has to keep making its own
case as loudly and forcefully as it can to ensure it does not suffer as a
new era of US-India relations gets underway, it added.
"To be sure, there is an element of playing to the gallery involved in all such visits," Dawn editorial said.
"Indian
officialdom and its relatively nationalist media will likely try and
elicit further comments on Pakistan from Obama and other American
officials that can be used by India to portray Pakistan in an even more
negative manner."
The newspaper said, Pakistan and India need to
get out of this habit of incessant, meaningless competition: "if Obama
goes to India, that is India's business when Obama visits Pakistan, that
should be Pakistan's bilateral matter."
Perhaps the only thing
that should be remembered, or even reiterated publicly, is that dialogue
between Pakistan and India needs to restart, the daily noted.
There
are several major and legitimate concerns on both sides, and,
regardless of the state of relations with India, Pakistan's foremost
concern is to win the fight against militancy domestically, it added.