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World News
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'Cornered' Pak needs to embrace "realism" than defending misplaced 'honour': Editorial
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Posted online: Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 5:28:54 PM
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Islamabad, May 17 : 'Honour' can only be defended when a country is really strong and standing on its own feet. Anything less, which applies in the case of Pakistan, must be negotiated with realism and pragmatism, states an editorial in a Pakistan daily.
The return to realism rather than the chest thumping on display by Pakistan for months in the name of national 'honour' has meant that diplomacy has kicked in on both sides, it adds.
It refers to the government's decision to block the NATO supply routes for nearly six months, in response to the Salala air raid, which killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, and their subsequent decision to resume NATO supplies after being 'threatened' by the U.S.
As expected by many observers, the Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC) has given a 'green light' to the reopening of NATO's supply routes. The reopening of the supply routes has been delinked from the demand for an apology for Salala or the cessation of drone strikes, which the U.S. flatly refused, it says.
On the other hand, in an ostensible reversal of NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen's assertion recently that Pakistan would not find a seat at NATO's Chicago summit unless the routes were restored, the secretary general has extended an invitation to President Asif Ali Zardari for the Chicago moot, it adds.
What all this means, the editorial points out, is that both sides have retreated diplomatically from the brink of a total breakdown in relations and are striving to get back to business as usual, but with new terms of engagement. The DCC has instructed all relevant ministries to conclude their negotiations with the U.S. on the new terms.
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