American President, Barack Obama has declared a new financial aid for Pakistan and Afghanistan. He said that although the US enhanced non-military support for Pakistan, the war has deeply penetrated inside its territories. Obama announced his policy during the crisis situation in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), due to the repeated suicide attacks which took a toll of lives. The policy has been formulated as a sequel to the visit of US envoy Richard Holbrooke to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India in the month of February. The US is granting $1.5 billion to Pakistan annually for the next five years. Also, President Obama has decided to send 4000 troops in Afghanistan along with a 60 percent increment in the military budget for Afghanistan. This proves the region will witness a conclusive war against Al-Qaeda and Taleban elements, after some furious fighting. The reason America is vacating Iraq, is to shift its resources for the conflict to the Pak-Afghan region, which could not be solved during the past seven years. The attacks from Taleban have increased enormously and Al-Qaeda is strengthening its structure day by day. The nonstop attacks are a solid message to US President Barack Obama, who has put Pakistan at the heart of the fight against Al-Qaeda, has tripled US aid to the country as a strategy aimed at reversing the war in neighboring Afghanistan. Pakistan will have to prove its performance from now on to pacify Obama that the financial aid given is not going waste. Afghanistan, tribal areas of Pakistan, as well as the border areas will be targets of US military attacks, as these areas are the safe havens for Taleban and Al-Qaeda leadership. Obama has declared the border areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan as the most dangerous areas in the world. Pakistan has somewhat succeeded to establish peace in Bajor and Swat after peace accords. However the presence of Taleban in those areas cannot be denied. This declaration has come up as a challenge for Pakistan; hence, the new announcement of financial aid by the US is not quite welcome to Pakistan. The US wants to avoid fighting with the general Taleban members, especially since war has cost lives of its own armed forces. Instead, it would get rid of Al-Qaeda's upper leadership directly by drone attacks. Some media sources reveal that Baluchistan and Chitral areas are also the target of the upcoming attacks, which will be more precise than the previous attacks, as the new pilot-free aircrafts are designed for this purpose. This news is alarming for China as well as for those who have invested in different development projects in Baluchistan, like the Gawadar and SANDAK projects. The Gawadar Port is being built on a turnkey basis by China and signifies an enlarging Chinese foothold in a critically important area of Baluchistan. Similarly, the SANDAK project is in progress with huge support from China. This project may produce a ton of gold, more than two tons of silver and other metals every year. Baluchistan is a significant region for the development of Pakistan and President Zardari has announced a package of more than PKR46 billion for it. He also announced to construct four dams and transmission lines for electricity there. This province is already deprived of resources and Obama's plans seem to affect the Gawadar Port, which shows a divergent strategic interest of the US that is linked with China. Though the world has already witnessed praise of Pakistan military's efforts by US administrative officials, now even the Pentagon is talking about the connection of the Pakistan army with the Taleban. Perhaps, it is a product of those advices of think tanks in the US and Europe, which have warned Obama that Washington has only six to twelve months in hand to save Pakistan from falling into a chaos that could have vast international implications. US congress members have advised president Obama before his declaration of the Pak-Afghan policy to stop the drone attacks and to aid Afghanistan with more troops. The need of hour is to find a diplomatic way to sort out the problem, otherwise it may raise the threat of another 9/11 attack. However, Obama's plan promises Pakistan the moon along with more drone attacks and new targets inside the country. He vowed to end insurgency, drug mafia, criminals and free and fair elections under United Nations (or a fair mechanism) in Afghanistan that should openly allow the Afghan-Taleban to participate in the upcoming elections so that the Taleban (mainly Pashtoons) will have a reason to quit their armed struggle and join the government of Afghanistan. Those having confidence in the new plans of Barack Obama for this region are predicting remarkable changes in Pakistan and Afghanistan, like economic development and political stability. Let us first see if the new US administration under President Obama can collaborate with EU officials and Pakistani authorities to craft a practical solution for resolving the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
