Ref: LETTER TO EDITOR Date: May 15, 1998
AMERICAN ANTI-BOMB SWEETENERS
In response to the five nuclear blasts by India, President Bill Clinton, took immediate steps to show America's annoyance by imposing sanctions on India and sending a high-powered team to Islamabad to urge the Sharif government to show restrain and shelve plans to detonate the Kahuta masterpiece. It is said that the Talbot-led delegation has a bag full of good things to sway the Pakistany thinking process towards suppressing the hawkish mood.
Now is the time to take advantage of the goodies being offered and strive to enjoy the fruits of this positive approach. The Prime Minister should demand facilities, benefits, and privileges that will prove to be a boon for the country. He should ask for:
The point is that there should be more emphasis on the economic side, but if it is more pertinent to care about the armaments and the obsolete F-16s, so be it. Pakistan lost an excellent economic boosting opportunity during the heydays of the Afghan imbroglio by requesting arms and ammunition when Uncle Sam was in a more generous mood. Egypt, of course, got extensive economic benefits, including loan write-offs, for supporting Washington during the Gulf War. The choice is pretty clear: Hawk or Dove. The former will bring with it break-backing economic sanctions, world wrath, and escalation in tension at the border. The latter will usher in an era of peace, economic prosperity, and a gigantic favorable image of the country. Let there be a renaissance of Peace, Prosperity, and Pragmatism.
Sincerely:
MAJYD AZIZ