Maleeha Lodhi, General Eshan Ul Haq and Abida Hussain possible replacements

As President Obama signed the $7.5 billion Kerry-Lugar Bill today amid mounting anxiety that the Bill would impinge on Pakistan’s sovereignty, there were manoeuvrings in Islamabad concerning the status of Pakistan’s Ambassador to Washington.

Ambassador Hussain Haqqani has been heavily criticised in Pakistan for heavily damaging relations between the two nations while being seen as too pro-American in his dealings with Washington. His indifference to fundamental Pakistani interests was noted by the Pakistan Army who expressed “serious concerns” about the aid package, citing certain “clauses impacting on national security”.

With Pakistan’s government in full panic mode, the Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had been re-dispatched to Washington after only a week’s absence to pull Haqqani’s chestnuts out of the fire. He succeeded in placating American Congressman who were confused that the normally asleep Pakistani nation was creating such a hue and cry in defence of their national honour.

To appease outraged Pakistani’s, a “joint explanatory statement” was issued by Mr Kerry and Mr Berman after their meetings with the Foreign Minister. A token gesture, it will be placed in the Congressional Record, the official log of proceedings in Congress along with the Bill.

While insisting that the Bill showed ‘support for Pakistan’s democratic institutions and people,’ the Americans still kept most of the conditions that had worried Pakistan’s Armed Forces.

• The Secretary of State (Hillary Clinton) will have to certify periodically that Pakistan is working to dismantle “illegal nuclear proliferation networks”.
• The US will also certify that Pakistan is no longer supporting “militant groups”.
• The aid will be spent through the new gigantic US embassy in Islamabad where ‘a special unit’ will maintain accounts and strictly monitor it.

In spite of the blatant violations of Pakistan’s national security interests that would be necessary in keeping with such clauses, Senator Kerry (of Skull and Bones fame) said “it also makes absolutely clear – and I want to emphasise this point – that the legislation does not seek in any way to compromise Pakistan’s sovereignty, impinge on Pakistan’s national security interests or micromanage any aspect of Pakistani military or civilian operations.”

The Americans also inadvertently confirmed why the Pakistani government has been so lethargic in preventing such a travesty, saying they had already provided more than $3bn in aid to the Pakistani government since President Asif Zardari came to power. This massive bribe had been spent in “combined security, economic and development assistance”, US officials said.

Now that the Ambassador to Washington has outlived his usefulness, he is due to be imminently retired from his post. Various names are being floated as his replacement and the three most prominent are Maleeha Lodhi, General Eshan Ul Haq and Abida Hussain. Ms. Lodhi and Ms. Hussain have already served terms in Washington while General Ehsan Ul Haq served as Director General of the ISI and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.