A costly hesitancy

AS one sees developments in Pakistan and Iran today, it is sad to note the inability of Pakistan to get out of its mindset and attitude relating to Iran formulated in the recent past, despite a highly altered environment that came into being post-9/11. The result is that Pakistan is unable or unwilling to take advantage of the new outreach by Iran towards Pakistan -- be it the offer to supply electricity on to the national grid or the IPI pipeline project which may have been inked but still awaits operationalisation. And there are other potential projects that are being ignored, even though Iran, like China, offers viable alternatives of cooperation to the rather costly US relationship. In order to overcome the psychological barriers and hesitancy to act, we need to understand our decision-makers mindsets on this vital issue.
Pakistan-Iran relations have been on an uneven keel since the Revolution in Iran and the advent of General Zia in Pakistan. Having looked into this issue for over 10 years now, some major points that have prevented a closer and more mutually beneficial relationship from evolving, can be identified. But the problem is that while the environment has altered, Pakistan remains stuck in an earlier period of mistrust and suspicion regarding Iran. The irony is that it is the Iranians who have had more cause for continuing with these suspicions and mistrust, for a number of reasons, but they have moved beyond far more than our bureaucracies in Pakistan.
And, at the end of the day, the civil and military bureaucracies have a much larger say in foreign policy making than we realise -- partly because this field draws little interest from the elected leaders beyond the freebie travels; and for another most are not well-versed in the facts.
From a Pakistani perspective, the revolution in Iran raised question marks in Pakistan because General Zia's own religious proclivities and the encouragement of a particular sectarian brand of thinking that was being inculcated within the establishment. Also, the US factor added to the distancing from Iran, because we were about to plunge into a US-led and funded war to get the Soviets out of Afghanistan.
Again, given the closeness of the Pakistan establishment to the Shah's Iran, the revolutionary regime was not understood by them nor did they feel comfortable with it. That Pakistan was also to become a proxy battleground for sectarian wars being funded from outside further added to the cooling of Pakistan-Iran ties. Finally, revolutionary Iran itself did not show any warmth towards Pakistan. Perhaps, the final nail in the coffin of close Pakistan-Iran relations was our devoted support to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
From the Iranian side, of course, relations with Pakistan deteriorated further over the years because of the violence inflicted on Iranian citizens -- from students to diplomats -- in Pakistan and its failure to deal effectively against the perpetrators of this violence against Iranian citizens in a supposedly "brotherly" Muslim state! Unlike Pakistani governments and its establishment, the Iranian state lays great value on the lives of its citizens. Until the hanging of Ganji's killer by Pakistan, the only issue Iranians were interested in discussing with Pakistanis was the violence against them that was taking place in their country.
Economic impediments were placed in Pakistan's way in terms of export of fruit and rice and the positioning on both sides was hardening as was evident to anyone having to deal with the other side. But these moves were a symptom of the problem only.
So, there is today still a pervasive, in this scribe's experience, if not an anti-Iran than a suspicious-of-Iran mindset that dominates the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and some of the intelligence set-ups. References are constantly made to the difficulties the Iranians put up in the way of export facilities across to Central Asia and how the Iranians play hardball. The hostility is not difficult to fathom but it has been most destructive of Pakistan's interests. And now the US factor has once again become a critical impediment also.
The establishment and MFA's positions are so strong that individual institutional and political leaders have not been able to make much headway even when they have sought to! And whenever one raises the Iran issue with members of the MFA or the intelligence set-ups, one gets a tirade that relates more to attitudes than anything substantive and there is always a focus on "arrogance" of the Iranians. While this trait is certainly correct and we have all experienced it at some time or the other -- the urge to be "imperial" towards Pakistanis, have our civil and military bureaucracies never put themselves in the Iranians shoes and tried to see how they have felt in seeing Pakistanis kill their diplomats, kidnap them and kill their students. Despite all this, there has been no counter violence against Pakistanis in Iran. Should that not be commended?
Even our present ambassador is frustrated by a lack of positive response from his government. For instance, the Iranians have built a rail and road link right up to Taftan -- the border with Pakistan. But there is nothing on our side in terms of these communication means, which would allow us access across into Central Asia and Europe. Apparently the Iranians would gladly help fund the road network from Taftan into Pakistan but our side is silent on this. The electricity issue has already been reiterated in the media but our leaders are unresponsive.
Our leaders are so fearful of paying an official visit Iran that neither the PM nor the president have gone - the latter having only gone to an ECO Summit and only after he was reassured that the Turkish president would also be attending -- to visit this most important neighbour with whom we have no conflict and have cultural and historic ties. How many times have the same leaders hopped off to Europe and the US and what have they gotten for all these trips?
Then we wonder why India has slipped into the vacuum and now everyone in Iran eats "Indian" food and listens to Indian music. Even the musicians in the restaurants know only "Hindi" songs! Yes, the Iranians are difficult and drive a hard bargain -- but they look out for their interests -- and we can do the same even as we reach out to them. Two strong Muslim neighbours could become a strong community of power. Instead we continue to undermine our real interests as our leaders kowtow to US imperialist demands.

©The Nation (Pakistan). All rights reserved. Reprinted by arrangement with Asia News Network.