Pakistan has moved away from strategic depth doctrine: Olson

Pakistan appears to have moved away from its “strategic depth” doctrine in Afghanistan, that was primarily aimed at countering India, US”s ambassador designate to Islamabad said today and pledged to make action against Haqqani network his top priority as envoy.

Richard Olson, the US Ambassador-designate to Pakistan, told Senators during his confirmation hearing that Pakistani leadership has now realised the futility of the Afghanistan policy aimed towards India.

“This has been a doctrine that the Pakistanis, over the years, have talked about strategic depth. The idea that Afghanistan represents strategic depth against a potential conflict with India. My sense is that the Pakistani military and the Pakistani government have moved away from that,” Olson said before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

He pointed out that Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has made public comments about moving away from the doctrine and Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani has redeployed forces to deal with internal threat and towards the border with Afghanistan.

“So, I think there is a basis at a strategic level for some further discussion with the Pakistanis and I think that these are frankly positive developments that we would want to encourage as Pakistan looks at its strategic position,” Olson said in response to a question from Senator Bob Corker.

Olson said pressing Pakistan to crack down on the Haqqani network would be his top priority in Islamabad if he was confirmed by the Senate.

“I will certainly, if confirmed, take it as the central responsibility and the most urgent of my responsibilities to continue to press the Pakistanis for further action on the Haqqani network in every way possible,” Olson said.