WASHINGTON – A group of Atleast three members of the US House ofRepresentatives have urged the Trump administration to work with Pakistanon building bilateral and strategic dialogues, instead of taking unilateralsteps against the country.
The ranking member on the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism,Homeland Security and Investigations; and co-chair of the CongressionalPakistan Caucus, Sheila Jackson Lee; along with Congressmen Al Green andTom Suozzi remarked to send a strong message to the administration for itsintensified dealings with Pakistan.
The three House members maintained that the administration “should not usea hammer on an ally that has been a friend of the United States for a verylong time.” Congresswoman Lee took the lead to point out that it was in thebest interest of the US to stabilise not only Pakistan but the region atlarge.
“We have a path way forward of engagement with Pakistan,” Congresswoman Leesaid adding, “We have Pakistani people who want peace, who want to fightagainst extremism, and fight against terrorism. We have an Afghan militarythat wants security along the border.” She also criticised theadministration’s move to restrict the movement of Pakistani diplomats inthe US and suggested that the two sides need to come to table to talk anduse diplomacy to resolve issues.
She announced that the three members will also convene a meeting of theadministration officials and State Department representatives on theUS-Pakistan issues. She insisted that a unilateral policy by the Trumpadministration to ward Pakistan will not work. “It needs to be bilateral,and engagement not only with the people in Pakistan especially the civilianpopulation but also Pakistani Americans for the right kind of diplomacy.”
Congressman Suozzi said that US has concerns about the Pak-Afghan border.”In order for us to try and resolve the problems we face in Afghanistan, weneed to figure out how we align our interests with those of Pakistan,because Pakistan will always be concerned about what’s going on inAfghanistan.”
He said that Pakistan has asked US help to secure the border area from theAfghan side, and as a member of the Armed Services Committee he questionedGeneral Mattis and General Dunford about what efforts can be made to tryand secure the border from the Afghan side and into the Pakistani side.”Efforts are being made to try and build a bilateral relationship betweenAfghanistan and Pakistan specifically on this issue of border controlbetween the two areas,” he said.
“The stick is always available,” Congressman Al Green commented referringto the Stick and Carrot policy that had been used by the US in the past. Hesuggested that it was much better to engage in diplomacy with a wide rangeof partners, so that all of the persons associated with endeavor can beproperly aligned. He said that the current administration “does not chooseto align persons so that we can make a positive progress. This is anunfortunate circumstance.”