The European Union’s support for Pakistan’s counter-terrorism strategy should be widely welcomed. Undoubtedly, Pakistan has convinced foreign partners that Pakistan is serious about fighting the militants who threaten the stability and integrity of the country because of the ongoing military operation in south Waziristan.

We are mistaken if we believe that we will have a free hand in spending the 300 million euros a year aid that the European Union is giving us. It is time that our politicians realized that aid offered by the international community always comes with ‘strings’ attached. Donors want to ensure that the aid money that comes from the taxpayers’ contributions is spent on what it is meant for. We have the right to refuse the aid, if this is considered offensive to our national ego. But can Pakistan afford to do that? Pakistan’s dependence on the West has grown because of the way in which our economy, foreign policy and defence strategy have been formulated and managed over the past decades.

It is all too natural that the European Union foreign ministers’ blueprint for relations with Pakistan should be based on issues that, first and foremost, affect their countries. But an honest appraisal makes it clear that ordinary Pakistanis should feel reassured because it is their interests that the blueprint also seeks to safeguard. For instance, the insistence on Pakistan staying the course in the war on terror, utilizing effectively the aid that is provided and addressing economic development and reconstruction projects in the northwest is something that should not be resented – at least not by the common man who feels let down when he has to pay for debt servicing while dollars flow into the private coffers of the rulers.

Similarly, measures to counter narcotics trafficking and nuclear proliferation and promote human rights should also be welcomed. There is, however, one aspect of its ties with the European Union that Islamabad would do well to focus on and demand concessions from: trade. High tariffs and stringent quotas have restricted trade flow with the European countries, which together form Pakistan’s biggest trading partner. The European Union’s offer of a free trade agreement has still to materialize.

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