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US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with members of her delegation to Pakistan - Source: Reuters -
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US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's Pakistan charm offensive
rolled into a wall of suspicion at one of the country's top
universities as students drilled her on whether America was truly
ready to be a steadfast partner in a time of crisis.
Clinton, on the second day of a three-day visit aimed at turning
around a US-Pakistan relationship under serious strain, was
presented with stark evidence of the trust deficit that yawns
between the two countries, now bound together in the struggle
against religious extremism.
"What guarantee can the Americans give Pakistanis that we can now
trust you ... and that you guys are not going to be betraying us
like you did in the past," one student asked at a "townhall-style"
meeting Clinton held at the Government College University in
Lahore.
Clinton, who has sought to use her own personal outreach to
overcome rising anti-American sentiment in Pakistan, repeated her
conviction that the two countries' common interests far outweighed
their differences.
"I am well aware that there is a trust deficit," Clinton said.
"My message is that's not the way it should be. We cannot let a
minority of people in both countries determine our
relationship."
Clinton's arrival in Pakistan was overshadowed by a huge car bomb
blast that ripped through a market in the city of Peshawar, one of
the largest recent attacks by Islamic militants seeking to
destabilise the nuclear-armed country.
Clinton urged Pakistan's youth to stand firm against the forces of
religious extremism, saying it threatened everything that both
Americans and Pakistanis hold dear.
She carried the same message in her meetings with Pakistan
President Asif Ali Zardari and other high officials in Islamabad on
Wednesday.
Clinton was due to meet Pakistan's army and security chiefs on
Thursday, where she was expected to discuss Pakistan's latest
military campaign against extremists in South Waziristan as well as
the US-led war against Taliban religious militants in neighbouring
Afghanistan.
Personal affinity
US officials have cast Clinton's visit to Pakistan as a chance to
counter anti-American broadsides from extremist religious leaders
and to showcase Clinton's personal affinity for a country she says
she knows and loves deeply.
On Thursday, she toured the massive red sandstone Badshahi Mosque
in central Lahore, extolling the cultural achievements of a country
more often in the headlines for political and religious
strife.
But the tense security situation in Pakistan was clear.
Gunmen stood guard in the mosque minarets, while Lahore's
normally busy main streets were emptied and armed police kept
bystanders penned back in narrow alleyways as Clinton's motorcade
sped past.
Tensions also simmered in Clinton's meeting with university
students, who peppered her with questions about Washington's
perceived policy slant toward Pakistan's long-time rival India, the
use of unmanned drones to attack targets in Pakistan and whether or
not the United States would support a treason trial for Pakistan's
former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf.
Some of the toughest questions centred on the Kerry-Lugar bill, a
recent piece of US legislation which aims to triple US assistance
to Pakistan to some $US7 billion over the next five years, but
which contains conditions which many Pakistanis regard as an
affront to their sovereignty.
Clinton repeated that Washington's argument that the bill's
conditions are merely a measurement of effectiveness - but conceded
that the we did not do a very good job communication in what our
intentions were.
While acknowledging the many bumps in US-Pakistan relations,
Clinton nevertheless asked for understanding, patience and
commitment - saying her own experience in deciding the join the
Obama administration after running against Barack Obama for the
presidency was instructive.
"What we have together is far greater than what divided us,"
Clinton said, referring to her relations with Obama.
"And that is what I feel about the United States and Pakistan."
