Pakistan's military, which has dominated the country for much of its turbulent history, has less sway over foreign policy, and a new power equation is emerging within America's strategic ally, said the foreign minister. Pakistan has been directly ruled by generals for more than half of its 64-year history and indirectly for much of the rest. The military has largely controlled foreign and security policies, and has taken the lead in relations with Washington. Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said new dynamics were now taking hold in nuclear-armed Pakistan, one of the most unstable countries in the world. “I want you to also understand that things have changed in Pakistan,” she told Reuters in an interview. “I think this overbearance of the role of the military in the foreign policy of Pakistan is something which will recede as time passes.” Some may question Khar's assessment of the military's role in foreign affairs given the long dominance of the generals. But the mere fact that she spoke openly of such change may raise eyebrows in the South Asian nation where the military is highly skilled at both mounting coups and running a business empire spanning everything from banks to bakeries. The military lost all of the nation's wars with India, has been accused of widespread abuses by human rights groups, and has failed to break the back of Al-Qaeda-linked Taliban despite several offensives. The foreign minister also said that Pakistan has spelt out in no uncertain terms that US drone aircraft strikes against militants inside its territory must stop, but Washington is not listening. “On drones, the language is clear: a clear cessation of drone strikes,” Hina Rabbani Khar said. “I maintain the position that we'd told them categorically before. But they did not listen. I hope their listening will improve,” she said. Still, many Pakistanis have traditionally viewed it as a far more effective institution than civilian governments, which have failed to tackle a staggering array of issues, from widespread poverty and chronic power cuts to suicide bombings. But the military's standing suffered dramatically after US special forces mounted a unilateral raid that killed Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden on Pakistani soil in May last year. Pakistan's generals and their all-powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency were humiliated, and came under rare public criticism. Since then, civilian leaders have grown more defiant of the military, which in the past has seized power through coups or heavily influenced policy from behind the scenes. “I think all institutions in Pakistan are realizing that there is a place and role for every institution,” said Khar, 35, Pakistan's first woman foreign minister. “And it is best to serve Pakistan's interests that each of the institutions remains within the boundaries of the roles which are constitutionally defined. It's a new sort of equilibrium.”
