The Ministerial Level Strategic dialogue between the United States and Pakistan which took place in Washington on 20-22 October was the third of its kind to be held in the past eight months.

Similar to past meetings, this too was a high level delegation and the dialogue process was divided into thirteen working groups that focused on agriculture, communications and public diplomacy, defence, economics and finance, education, energy, health, law enforcement and counter-terrorism, market access, science and technology, security, strategic stability and non-proliferation, water and women’s empowerment. The dialogue process focused on socio-economic development and the establishment of a mutually beneficial partnership. 

Pakistan
This exercise had its own multiple interests for Pakistan. This first and foremost outcome of this round of dialogue for Pakistan was military assistance. Pakistan stands to receive a military aid package worth $2 billion, subject to Congressional approval. This aid package is scheduled to cover a five year period from 2012 to 2016. This will help Pakistan to augment its counterterrorism and counter insurgence capabilities by facilitating the purchase of necessary equipment. This $2 billion package is in addition to the existent military assistance that Pakistan receives from the United States, totalling about $400 million annually for the next five years; an increase of $100 million over the existing $300 million package.

In addition to military assistance, Pakistan’s gains in the civilian sector include assistance in building dams on Gomal, Satpara and Bhasha. Furthermore, the United States is committed to setting up the Reconstruction Opportunity Zones and the establishment of an Enterprise Fund. Both the Reconstruction Opportunity Zones and the Enterprise Fund will go a long way in improving Pakistan’s economy which is under a cloud today. These initiatives will help Pakistan revive its shrinking economy, thereby enabling social stability. The dialogue also discussed the post-floods rehabilitation and the restoration of normalcy in affected areas.

United States
The key focus areas of the United States in these talks reflected its strategic interests in the Af-Pak region in terms of security issues. These are the elimination of the Al Qaeda, along with its support systems and other organisations that are affiliated to it. On the lines of global security concerns, the focus of the United States is to see a stable, secular and functional democratic government in both Afghanistan and Pakistan which would deny space for extremist elements to be nurtured.

The United States is also interested in engaging Pakistan to rein in the Taliban and resolve the Afghan quagmire. To this end, the strategic dialogue was a means to both seek the active cooperation of Pakistan and to work out an amicable peace settlement in Afghanistan. This is in the light of the proposed American military withdrawal, starting from the middle of 2012. The possibility of this becoming a reality will be determined by the situation in Afghanistan, which in turn will be influenced by the level of Pakistan’s participation.

The United States will also appreciate greater cooperation and involvement from Pakistan on intelligence and counter terrorism. This could be interpreted as providing the United States a free hand in operating within Pakistan territory. Although the drone operations carried out by the United States in hunting terrorist leaders has been a bone of contention between the two countries, they are a crucial part of the American war strategy. Thus, the dialogue process was also a means of sorting out such differences.

The Road Ahead
The immediate future course of the strategic dialogue is in reference to the situation in Afghanistan; the manner in which it shapes up and its impact upon the withdrawal of the American forces. This would be determined by the level of Pakistani cooperation in ensuring the uninterrupted flow of supplies and crackdown on terrorist groups. 

For Pakistan, the future of the dialogue process would be meaningful only under certain conditions. The first of these would be to see the same level of participation shown by the United States in Pakistan and the surrounding areas post the withdrawal of the former’s troops from Afghanistan. The second point would be a civilian nuclear deal on the lines of the Indo-US Civilian Nuclear deal. This could be the rallying point for Pakistan and also the litmus test of the United States’ seriousness in the dialogue process, in the long term.

For a layman, the term “strategic dialogue” itself would denote the lacuna in the ties between the two countries. Had the level of interaction been similar to the links established by both Pakistan and the US with other countries in the region, the nomenclature would fittingly be “strategic partner,” and not dialogue.