Bonn boycott — A bold reaction

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
1

[INDENT=3]** Pakistan to boycott Bonn Conference
**
“Pakistan has decided not to attend an international conference on Afghanistan’s future scheduled to be held next week in Bonn, Germany, in protest against the Nato raid on its military outposts that led to killing of over two dozen military men. The decision was taken during the meeting of federal cabinet presided over by Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani in Lahore on Tuesday.”
[/INDENT]

There will be voices ready to match with Dr Hafiz Sheikh to first weigh the pros and cons of walking out of Bonn Conference and than reject the idea as it doesn’t suit our economy, but I am all for not going to Bonn in protrest against what US-led Nato did to us. Let there be deaths and devastation if that is the cost of saving what we are left with in the name of national honour and integrity. It may not sound pragmatic, but what else have we achieved by being pragmatic anyway?

2

Re: Bonn boycott — A bold reaction

This is just foolish. This has been done to avoid public reaction only . This is an international conference not a NATO conference .

3

Re: Bonn boycott — A bold reaction

A good move or not. Its a political move that will shape the way our relationship with the US is managed for the next 10 years. If we do not go, say good bye to a peaceful resolution to the Afghan crisis. Say hello to more tension between Pakistan and the US.

4

Re: Bonn boycott — A bold reaction

what do they hope to achive by not going??

they should go.........and say what they want to say........

5

Re: Bonn boycott — A bold reaction

What they achieve is giving the US the finger. Bonn will be a failure without Pakistan because we are needed to bring the Taliban to the Table. Its like having a cricket match when the other team doesn't bother showing up.

6

Re: Bonn boycott — A bold reaction

i guess..if they want to walk off......they should go... say everything (get heard) and walk-off or something........basically........in terms of cricket............ go ...piss on the wicket...and walk off :D

7

Re: Bonn boycott — A bold reaction

Had they shot the helicopter down and had air force tried to provide the air-cover to our jawans there, none of this was required, now boy-cotting this and issuing harsh statement does not make up to anything... if Army and civil leadership is really sincere and want to send a strong message then following should be done:

1) Increase the tariff for the logistics by 200 - 300%
2) Deny air-space of Pakistan to US for good.... no manned or unmanned fighter plane in Pakistani side, if anyone comes, shoot it down

And to tease:
3) Speed up the Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline project
4) Develop a rail project from Gawadar to China with the help of China

These will be kind of middle finger to US and West and would benefit Pakistan at large... attending or not attending some stupid conference or having a resolution from APC or Parliament is just not good enough...

8

Re: Bonn boycott — A bold reaction

Besides, there are few days to conference, may leadership of armed forces boy-cott it and they send Secretary of Foreign Affairs or Foreign Minister only... lets wait and watch... if this conference is that important, US and Germany won't let Pakistan back-out that easily...

9

Re: Bonn boycott — A bold reaction

little too idealistic we are getting here…:hehe:

10

Re: Bonn boycott — A bold reaction

We are not diplomatically strong enough to achieve what we can by showing anger at this point of time. Bonn will be a disaster without Pakistan and that’s the point to make by being absent from the conference. Your words will never speak what your absence can.

See the immediate reaction of the boycott and judge for yourself: Merkel very sorry about Pak boycott

11

Re: Bonn boycott — A bold reaction

^^ Nothing else we have got here or do we?

Let see how important the BONN conference is? if Pakistan's role is indispensable, then they will force Pakistan to get there with love or more chances are with arm twisting... they are showing love now ( the grief they feel) soon they will twisting arms and threatening of consequences... and as we all know, both army and civil leadership is a wuss...

12

Re: Bonn boycott — A bold reaction

My friend, we are talking about immediate reaction. PaaNch-saala mansoobey pe phir kabhi baat kareiN ge.

13

Re: Bonn boycott — A bold reaction

Remember this was not air attack. This was ground war and hele reached for support after more than two hours of war .
What was reaction after start of a war .

14

Re: Bonn boycott — A bold reaction

First two are immediate reactions, let the falling economies know that the air-strike have increased the bill by 200-300%, no way we can able to hold the logistics more than 3 weeks.. so here is the choice get back to work on old salary or let them know your displeasure by increasing the tariff...

2nd point about denying air-space will make sure next time the ground troops will shoot down and air-force would be ready to take on any thing violating the air-space of Pakistan, now tell me how is this panjh sala mansooba???

15

Re: Bonn boycott — A bold reaction

It is a good move provided the government grow the balls to see it through and face the challenges that come with such a move. A message has to be sent that you can't treat pakistan like Afghanistan, Libya and Iraq. Granted, there are problems inside pakistan and the militant menace needs to be tackled. But US needs to show a little more respect to Pakistan since they can't fight the war without it.

16

Re: Bonn boycott — A bold reaction

No one was expecting that Pakistan would ever dare withdraw from the conference because our policy has always been been defensive. We have just too many issues to think about before taking such a decision. But that could go in our advantage in a way — that despite all the issues we have related to our politics and economy, we still have courage to take bold steps. The point to remember (and exploit) is that the Afghanistan exit gate opens from Pakistan.

17

Re: Bonn boycott — A bold reaction

Its a very good and courageous decision!

Make yourself noticed and I would like to see the face of that Clinton ***** sitting there, knowing this is a failure from the start!

Those who say, there could be a repair in relationship by going to Bonn or that USA is going to be friends with us again are living in fools paradise.

USA is not a friendly state and no matter what we do, they will always find an excuse ...

Show them the finger! This is the only language they understand. Case in consideration = North Korea!

Next time something like this happens, kick their Ambassador out!

18

Re: Bonn boycott — A bold reaction

War of words sounds sweet, but at the end of the day, fact is that 1)our corrupt politicians are reliant on US aid to fill their pockets and 2)our military is reliant on US aid to fund its operations. Yes, the military should wean itself from the US and shift over to China, but that will take time. The military can only afford to make half hearted complaints. What the government says or does will be directly related to how much noise the public or opposition makes. They will never make any move on their own. (Case in point, loadshedding memogate).

Pakistan may or may not follow through with its decision to boycott Bonn, but at the moment, Pakistan stands to lose more than gain by not attending. At best, we can only give them the silent treatment for a couple of days. Our politicians dont have the guts to carry it on for longer, and dont have the courage to follow it up with tangible steps that stick.

19

Re: Bonn boycott — A bold reaction

Make sense.

[QUOTE]
2) Deny air-space of Pakistan to US for good.... no manned or unmanned fighter plane in Pakistani side, if anyone comes, shoot it down
[/QUOTE]

Can be force easily, if they show some balls.

[QUOTE]
3) Speed up the Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline project
[/QUOTE]

Work is already being done on it.

[QUOTE]
4) Develop a rail project from Gawadar to China with the help of China
[/QUOTE]

Already in the pipeline.

20

Re: Bonn boycott — A bold reaction

Yes Pakistani airforce did not respond but that is due to our policies for the past 8 years. It is a bold decision for boycotting the conference and there would be a lot of pressure on the government to participate, as without Pakistan the conference is a failure. The thing that we need to see is if they can keep away from the conference or give away to the international pressure that will come with this decision.

http://www.dawn.com/2011/11/29/karzai-urges-pakistan-to-reconsider-bonn-boycott.html

Karzai urges Pakistan to reconsider Bonn boycott
**KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai telephoned Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday to urge him to reconsider a boycott of the Bonn conference over a deadly Nato strike, officials in both countries said.

****Karzai’s deputy spokesman Siamak Herawi told AFP that Pakistan was an important participant in the conference aimed at bridging peace after 10 years of war against the Taliban, and expressed hope that they would ultimately attend.
**
“President Hamid Karzai called Prime Minister Gilani and officially asked the Pakistan government to participate in the Bonn conference,” said Herawi.

“We regard Pakistan as an important country and are optimistic they will attend the Bonn conference.”

Pakistan said it would skip the conference on Afghanistan after a Nato strike on Saturday killed 24 Pakistani soldiers on the border.

Pakistan has already closed the Afghan border to Nato convoys, a lifeline for 140,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, ordered American personnel to vacate an air base reportedly used by CIA drones and ordered a review of the alliance.

Gilani’s office issued a statement confirming that Karzai had asked the prime minister to reconsider, but gave no hint of an official rethink.

Gilani said that Pakistan had been extending complete cooperation for peace and stability in Afghanistan.

“However, he further added that how could a country whose own sovereignty and territorial integrity was violated from Afghan soil play such a constructive role?” Earlier, Afghanistan’s foreign ministry said it had not yet received an official confirmation that Pakistan would opt out of the meeting.

“Our Pakistani brothers should remember that Bonn is an Afghan conference, it will be chaired and led by Afghans,” said foreign ministry spokesman Janan Mosazai.

A Pakistani government official earlier told AFP on condition of anonymity that the cabinet had decided not to attend the event over the crisis.%between%