Pakistan is as necessary for the withdrawal of US military equipment as it was for its deployment into Afghanistan.

And Pakistan continues to need US help to deal with economic difficulties and internal security threats. Neither can succeed at counterterrorism without the others help. Pakistani and US soldiers who have served multiple tours battling violent e tremism have borne the brunt of mistaken national security policies. !ther reasons to stabilise bilateral relations are obvious. As the communiqu" from the state visit makes plain# the United States has helped Pakistan to deal with its energy dilemmas far more than $hina. %his has barely been noticed in the current phase of anti& Americanism within Pakistan. 'ilitary assistance continues# but has shifted ( and will shift still more ( away from hardware associated with conventional warfare to helping Pakistans military deal with e tremists who kill at a rate that dwarfs that of drone warfare. As long as it is easier within Pakistan to rail against drones than for the Pakistani military to take action against the targets of drone strikes# our two nations will remain only partial and troubled partners in countering violent e tremism. )nternal and e ternal security threats are linked# of course. *ut internal cohesion can only be accentuated by missteps in Afghanistan or in dealings with )ndia. )n Pakistan# internal security is of paramount importance# as +en ,ayani repeatedly says. %o the outside world# Pakistans efforts in this regard are overshadowed by those who use its soil to carry out violent acts across borders. )ts hard to recognise mistakes# and even harder to engineer course corrections. %here is good reason to suspect that Afghanistan is too fractious a place for ambitious state& building. A grand Afghan political settlement is likely to remain ephemeral or illusive. -amiliar divides will reappear because they have never gone away. .hatever chips Pakistans national security managers might try to play in an Afghan settlement have not rewarded Pakistan in the past# and are unlikely to help Pakistan find a brighter future. %wo generations of Pakistani strategic analysts have held the mirage that Afghanistan provides strategic depth# when the reverse has proven to be true. Pakistan has been destabilised by its own and by US. misadventures in Afghanistan# and could be destabilised further if )ndia gains a foothold there to use as a staging ground to support disaffection in *alochistan. A role reversal of this kind# mirroring )ndias decades&long misfortunes in ,ashmir# could only multiply Pakistans domestic woes. A political settlement# if one can be found# will have to tackle this issue which# in turn# requires improved ties between Pakistan and )ndia.

Nawa/ Sharif has great sympathy and support in .ashington. %he !bama administration will continue to provide assistance to tackle Pakistans economic# energy and internal security woes. -irst impressions in .ashington# as in Pakistan# suggest a man hobbled by the immensity of his countrys problems and the obstacles that others so easily place in his path. 0ast month# at the margins of UN +eneral Assembly speechmaking# he and )ndian Prime 'inister 'anmohan Singh promised to quiet e changes of fire across the ,ashmir divide. %hese flares appear to outsiders as contrived to prevent Nawa/ from pursuing what he so clearly wants ( improved relations and greater direct trade with )ndia. As long as firing across the ,ashmir divide continues# it suggests opposition to this agenda# which is critical to Pakistans well&being. 'ore difficult# by orders of magnitude# will be taking action against e tremists that are driving up Pakistans death toll. 0eaving aside countries like Syria which are in the throes of a civil war# Pakistan now ranks above Afghanistan# and second only to )raq# in fatalities due to sectarian violence. The writer is co-founder of the Stimson Centre in Washington.