President Obama and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif tried to project the image of an alliance in lock step during a summit at the White House Thursday, despite a range of sticky security disagreements over Pakistan’s role in the Afghan war and U.S. concerns over Islamabad’s growing nuclear weapons arsenal.
While U.S. officials have long accused elements of the Pakistani military of supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan — as well as terror groups used to stoke tensions with India — the two leaders issued a joint statement calling for “enhancing” the already “robust” military-to-military relationship between Washington and Islamabad.
Specifics were not provided, although the language suggested a major weapons deals may be in the works. Pakistani officials have voiced frustration recently over the aging state of their fighter jet fleet, amid reports that the U.S. may soon announce the sale of several new F-16s to Islamabad.
Thursday’s joint statement, which called for growing cooperation in other areas as well, from trade and education to climate change and energy policy, said the two leaders also see eye-to-eye about the risks associated with Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program.
With reports that Pakistan’s stockpile had grown to as many as 110 warheads as of 2011, and may be on pace to reach 250 by 2025, concern has mounted in Washington over the nation’s volatile security situation and the risk that nuclear weapons may end up in the hands of terrorists.
The joint statement said only that “President Obama and Prime Minister Sharif discussed the continuing threat of nuclear terrorism” and that both are “committed to work together to make the Nuclear Security Summit hosted by President Obama next year a success.”
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While Mr. Obama told reporters he seeks to “further deepen the relationship between the United States and Pakistan,” he stressed that “we work and cooperate on a whole host of issues, not just on security matters, but also on economic, scientific and educational affairs.”
Mr. Sharif said he also wants “to further strengthen and solidify this relationship.”
Ties between the two nations have suffered in the wake of the surprise 2011 U.S. Special Forces raid that killed Osama bin Laden in his Pakistan hideout, and a yearslong U.S. drone campaign against suspected al Qaeda members in the country. Civilian deaths from the strikes had triggered outrage among many in the nation.
But Pakistani officials say relations with Washington have improved since Mr. Obama shifted away from relying so heavily on the strikes in 2013 and the Sharif government launched its own sustained military campaign to rout Islamist militants along its side of the border with Afghanistan.
Pakistan’s relationship with Afghanistan — where Taliban factions have surged as U.S. and other international military forces have drawn down their presence in recent years — remains the most difficult issue between Washington and Islamabad.
The Sharif government claims it is doing everything in its power against Taliban-connected militants. But there are questions about how much power the prime minister has over the Pakistani military.
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The military has run repeated coups in the nation since the late-1950s — most recently, the one that drove Mr. Sharif from power in 1999 and saw the military control the government through 2008. Mr. Sharif was returned to power in a 2013 vote. But the military is still seen by many to be in the driver’s seat.
But the prime minister’s visit to Washington will be bookended by U.S. visits from Lt. Gen. Rizwan Akhtar, the head of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and the upcoming visit of Chief of Army Staff Gen. Raheel Sharif.
Mr. Sharif’s visit this week came three months after talks between Kabul and Taliban representatives collapsed, and less than a week after Mr. Obama abandoned plans to withdraw all U.S. combat troops from Afghanistan and instead keep nearly 10,000 troops on the ground through at least the end of 2016.
• Guy Taylor can be reached at gtaylor@washingtontimes.com.
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