Haqqani warns Pakistan not to overplay ‘Nato route’ trump card

Former Pakistani Ambassador to the United States Husain Haqqani Friday warned Pakistan not to overplay its trump card - control of the Nato supply routes through the country. In a CNN interview with Christiane Amanpour, he said: “Pakistanis have to wake up to the fact that whatever advantages they have as the ground line of communication provider, that advantage is not going to last forever. As the Americans withdraw, yes, they need Pakistan to withdraw their heavy equipment. But in a worst case scenario, they can say ‘Blow up the equipment, let’s get out of here through other means.’” The former envoy also claimed that his life was indanger in Pakistan, and he would only return to the country once radicalism there had been completely eradicated. He rejected the possibility of facing the memo commission saying that his life was at risk in Pakistan. Commenting on the unceremonious end to his own ambassadorship, Haqqani held, “I did not come to a very good end as ambassador. I ended up being accused of all sorts of things because I was trying to explain to people in Pakistan that the sentiment in America was now turning against our country. And I kept telling people in America that they need to be a little more understanding of what’s going on in Pakistan. So the proverbial middleman, I got punched by both sides.” In response to a question, Haqqani maintained that Pakistan had serious reservations concerning Afghanistan’s future, and that the United States’ lack of confidence in Pakistan was uncalled for. He added that in order to solve a myriad of issues the United States would have to first understand the sentiments of the people of Pakistan and both countries would have to resolve their conflicting issues, adding that both Islamabad and Washington enjoyed “parallel narratives.” “Pakistanis think that the United States is an untrustworthy ally, the Americans think that Pakistanis don’t always fulfil their end of the bargain, especially when it comes to terrorism,” Haqqani attested, adding that breaking the deadlock would not be easy. “Remember, we need to crack down on these extremists for Pakistan’s sake. More Pakistanis have been killed by them than they have killed Americans. America will leave Afghanistan someday but we will still be haunted by the remnants,” he said. “I am among those who feel that there are elements in Pakistani society who don’t allow us to have an honest and realistic debate about foreign policy. We just want to blame our neighbours, our enemies,” said Haqqani, “[and] we don’t want to take account of what’s wrong at home.”