By Priyakala Manoharan
The effective transition of control of security from western forces to the Afghan National Security Forces and the long-term stability of Afghanistan were the top priorities at the NATO summit held in Chicago on 20-21 May 2012. The strained US-Pakistan relations cast a shadow over the summit. This article seeks to examine whether there was any movement beyond the US-Pak impasse at the summit and the impact of this stand-off on Afghanistan.
Frigidity Between The US And Pakistan
The complicated rift between the US and Pakistan was on full display at the Chicago summit. Obama’s denial to grant Asif Ali Zardari a separate meeting and his cold shoulder to the Pakistani president at the summit reflected the growing bottleneck in US-Pak relations. While, Obama acknowledged the role played by the Central Asian countries and Russia in the transit of NATO supplies, he pointedly ignored the role of Pakistan. For the US, Pakistan has become a major problem in the region rather than the solution, and this perception was evident at the Chicago summit as the rift between the two seemed to be getting only worse.
Read the full story at Eurasia Review