US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's just concluded trip to Pakistan was timely to say the least. After months of stress surrounding US-Pakistan relations, Clinton's visit at least managed to halt a further slide in relations, though only for now.

In the past six months since US commandos tracked and killed Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan's northern city of Abbottabad, Islamabad's civil and military institutions have repeatedly decried Washington for a violation of the country's sovereignty.

But other setbacks to the relationship have come from remarks by the now retired Admiral Mike Mullen, former chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff committee, who publicly accused Pakistan's top intelligence service of retaining links to the Haqqani militant group.

The US believes the Haqqani network to be responsible for a number of fierce attacks in Afghanistan this year including a recent attack on the US embassy in Kabul.

That said, the main question remains unanswered. What is it that ails Pakistan's relations with the US? On Friday, a questioner at an event with Clinton asked in a lighter vein if indeed the US has become a nagging mother-in-law to Pakistan, always expecting the country to do more. In reality though, the nagging part may not be untrue. But exactly what prompts the nagging is the question.

In part, the pitfalls surrounding the US-Pakistan relationship come from the broader security challenge confronted by the two countries. Towards this end, Pakistan's appreciation of its interests ought to be radically different from that of the US. For Pakistan, prevalent trends emerging from current and past policy choices are a permanent fact of life. While the US may eventually extricate itself from the Afghanistan theatre, Pakistan will live with the consequences of Washington's actions. By contrast, US policy choices for the Afghanistan-Pakistan region may not necessarily come home to haunt it, given Washington's geographical distance from the war-torn country.

This being the case, Pakistan is pressed by the reality of its surroundings, which often forces it to maintain links that are considered unacceptable by outside powers. In the current context too, US-Pakistan relations began sliding recently after Admiral Mullen's comments though it is now clear that the US may have also had discussions with the Haqqani network while Washington condemned the group in public.

For Pakistan, contacts with such groups are critical to its well-being. If Pakistan was to snap all contacts with militants, the country's ability to understand such groups with a view to blocking future threats to itself, may then be severely compromised.

 

Paying lip service

But the other key pitfall for Pakistan relates to the country's internal conditions. On Friday too, Clinton made a reference to ‘corruption' as an issue to be tackled by Pakistan but of course did not elaborate. In reality, Pakistan's corruption of today has indeed become the biggest curse for the country. No day goes by without a new account of corruption making the rounds.

There are many facets to Pakistan's present-day internal trends, notably widespread corruption and a generally inept government. While corruption is much talked about, the reality is indeed that of a government which routinely turns a deaf ear to such accusations.

The reality of these charges becomes all the more grim when judged against the presence of a ruling structure which appears to be paying lip service at best to some of the most vital areas which are in need of reform.

In this background, it is hardly surprising that Pakistan's many partners are clearly disturbed and disappointed over the country's outlook. Furthermore, Pakistan's foes could not find a better opportunity to exploit than the present one where the country's future only looks bleak. The internal picture must be reviewed aggressively even on matters related to foreign policy trends.

The inability of Pakistan's present-day rulers to act in areas like tackling the many gaps in internal governance has only exposed them to criticism — both at home and abroad. The failure to fill these gaps has only added to the aggravation of overall conditions at a time when Pakistan's outlook remains weak.

Consequently, leaders like President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani simply continue to fail in being seen popularly as presenting hope for a change to a better future. Given this background, it would a huge mistake to consider Clinton's reference to corruption as a passing affair. In fact, this presents the most acute of all challenges that confronts Pakistan today.

 

Farhan Bokhari is a Pakistan-based commentator who writes on political and economic matters.