More Statesmanship Lessons for David Cameron

The Childish and irresponsible statement spark off a new debate that British office of Prime Minister is rapidly deteriorated in terms of handling the foreign policy towards major issues like that of Terrorism and its possible remedy . British government realized this fact, now very well, that pseudo ‘War on Terror’ attracted public wrath and discontentment, which damaged the very fabric of the multi-cultural society. The death of four British servicemen in Afghanistan at the weekend takes the toll of UK troops in the war against terror past 500.

There is a growing frustration in British Society due to the killings of British soldiers in Afghanistan, as Allied Forces are losing the ground , exposing an imminent defeat is in the offing. ‘Military Families Against The War’ is an organisation comprised of the families of the soldiers, who foresee a major set-back to the strategic interests in the continuation of the War in Afghanistan, besides massive causalities. The organization has already filed a petition with the British government against the war and amassing public support in the favor of its objective, ‘ To bring Troops Home’. The petition orchestrates, “Noting the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, and the destabilisation of Pakistan arising from the NATO military intervention in the region and believing that only the Afghan people themselves can generate a political solution to their country’s problems, therefore demand that the government commence the withdrawal of all British military forces from Afghanistan.”

David Cameron is apparently continued to follow the conspiracy theory of the ‘sponsored’ WikiLeaks War Logs .The independent political analysts believe that he is made victim in getting maximum ‘output’ from Britain . He offended Islamabad with comments made on Wednesday in India. Speaking to an audience in the city of Bangalore, Cameron said: "We cannot tolerate in any sense the idea that this country is … able, in any way, to promote the export of terror whether to India, whether to Afghanistan or to anywhere else in the world."

Cameron later told the BBC that he had chosen his words carefully. "It is unacceptable for anything to happen within Pakistan that is supporting terrorism elsewhere," he said, adding: "It is well-documented that that has been the case in the past, and we have to make sure that the Pakistan authorities are not looking two ways. They must only look one way, and that is to a democratic and stable Pakistan." Earlier, Cameron was also accused of his ‘plain speaking’, during his recent tour to Turkey.


Reacting to Cameron’s statement, former British foreign Secretary, David Miliband has criticized Prime Minister David Cameron, accusing him of being a "cuttlefish squirting out ink" over his remarks about Pakistan's record on terrorism.
"Cameron has used the past two weeks to make a verbal splash on foreign policy. Like a cuttlefish squirting out ink, his words were copious and created a mess. The cancellation by the Pakistani intelligence agency, the ISI, of a security meeting with our services shows that, in foreign policy, words can be our most powerful tool," Miliband wrote in an article for The Independent. "But the Prime Minister's have been destructive. The mindsets in Israel, Pakistan and Britain have all been given the once-over. But making a splash is not the same as making a difference." "Cameron either has a loose tongue - his comments about Gaza, terrorism and the Second World War were made off the cuff at press conferences or in interviews - or he is desperate for headlines. Neither is encouraging," he added.

Pakistani foreign office spokesperson maintained that one could never draw right conclusions from baseless and skewed reports. The spokesperson also asked journalists to abstain from highlighting such baseless reports. “I would say that it is important that we do not create unnecessary hype around these reports and get distracted. The world knows very well how Pakistan is contributing in the ongoing fight against terrorism and we will continue doing that because it is also in our interest”.When asked to comment on Pakistan’s double standard as it was seeking a clarification from Afghanistan against Karzai’s remarks but not from Cameron for his remarks, the spokesperson replied there were no double standards. “We have seen remarks made by the British Prime Minister and we see the context in the sense that those were based on WikiLeaks reports. Hence, we have expressed our sadness over these remarks, which have been made in India. As far as the reported remarks by President Karzai and the earlier remarks by Spanta are concerned, we found these incomprehensible given the fact that we all know well that during the last two years Pakistan and Afghanistan have been cooperating very closely with each other against terrorism and we do not see any reason as to why these remarks should have been made”, he said.

Pakistani Intelligence Chief , Lt General Ahmed Shuja Pasha, cancelled his visit to Britain in lieu of the present ‘ situation’. The cancellation of the visit of ISI chief, who was supposed to have meetings with his counterparts in MI-5 and MI-6, is another setback for the ‘security planning’ opportunity for British Defense intelligentsia.

Cameron’s controversial statement is surfaced, just days after the publication of leaked U.S. military documents relating to the war in Afghanistan on the Internet platform WikiLeaks and in three media outlets, including Spiegel. According to the so-called war logs, the U.S. suspects that Pakistan is providing terrorists with a haven and that the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI is training insurgents and supplying them with weapons. According to one memo, the ISI was even involved in a plot to assassinate the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai.

His words have created a stir in the Pakistani society , a country that is officially Britain's ally in the war on terror and lost more than 30 thousand Pakistani civilians and armed forces personnel have been killed or injured since the global war on terror began in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, while over 17,000 terrorists have been killed or captured. According to data released by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in Feb 2010, from 9/11 till now, 30,452 people have been killed or injured. These include 21,672 civilians and 8,785 military personnel.

The co-chairperson of Britain’s ruling Conservative party, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, visited Pakistan recently called on President Asif Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in Islamabad and discussed a host of issues, particularly bilateral relations and Islamabad’s role in fighting terrorism. During her visit, both Islamabad and Pakistani-born British national found similarities in their views that terrorism is the common enemy for both Pakistan and Britain and that cooperation between the two countries must continue to fight the war against this scourge. Sayeeda Warsi realized the sufferings of Pakistan in fighting militancy. Sayeeda Warsi and the British high commissioner appreciated Islamabad’s efforts against militancy and reiterated their country’s support to the democratic government in Pakistan in fighting militancy. The present statement of Cameron is not a policy shift towards Pakistan, as Britain realized this fact , in the losing war of Afghanistan , Pakistan is the only state in the region which can be helpful in an ‘ honorable retreat’ from the region.

Britain is confronting with growing extremism and fanaticism, prevailing in British youth especially after 9/11 and 7/7 incidents of terrorism. The British intelligence agencies are exercising a constant vigil on ‘ suspects’, even on the price of curtailing ‘ Civil Liberties’. The British society is robustly influenced by the Islamic culture, which is the prominent part of British Multi Culture, atleast after three generations. The Muslim immigrants are mostly migrated from Pakistan and they have developed a bridge between Pakistan and UK. There participation in local politics and in both houses, is quite obvious.

In the present circumstances and scenario, Pakistani communities can play a very vital role in reducing the indigenous reactionary wave of extremism in British youth . The interfaith dialogues , though on equal footings , between Pakistani and British societies can pay a positive dividend for the progress of peaceful and sustainable atmosphere, especially in Britain. In the present circumstances , the visit of president Asif Ali Zardari, is predicted to be a ineffective , it will further be criticized, if media may continue to focus on lavish expenditures from public expense on a large entourage.