Does President Zardari trust the Prime Minister?

By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk

After David Cameron’s diplomatic gaffe (or straight talking, if you prefer) last week over Pakistan, the visit of President Zardari was always likely to be an interesting insight into the fledgling foreign policy of the Cameron government.

However, what Cameron is unlikely to have seen coming, was that his comments would see Gordon Brown, and today David Miliband, return to the front-line of international politics.

It was reported yesterday that Zardari had called Brown to discuss his the recent floods, which even an amateur decoder of diplomatic language can translate as ‘complain vigorously about the new guy, and ask what he’s playing at’.

Today he’s called David Miliband, presumably for much the same reason as he called Brown, and perhaps also to re-inforce the message, incase Cameron wasn’t listening loud and clear the first time. Either way it’s a boon to the foreign policy credentials of the elder Miliband.

The furore and the way Zardari has dealt with it raises several questions;

*Does President Zardari, the leader and head of state of one of our most important strategic allies (especially while we’re waging a war on their doorstep), trust our Prime Minister?

*Will he be willing to make tough decisions in his own country to aid Cameron’s foreign policy goals in the region, if he feels the efforts made thus far aren’t valued?

*Will he hold his tongue next time Cameron talks straight?

*And can anything positive possibly be salvaged from his visit to Britain this week?

Pakistan is by no means a perfect state. It’s democracy is vastly improved compared to the days of General Musharaf, yet still significantly weakened by the prevalence of patronage and the importance of family ties. The state has made real attempts to crack down on the actions of militants operating in its borders – yet it still struggles to operate an effective border with Afghanistan, or Indian Kashmir. Yet after the upheaval of recent years, and the struggle and bloodshed (not least the loss of Zardari’s own wife Benazir Bhutto) that brought about democracy to acheive democracy, it’s really not that surprising that they would take the suggestion of a failure to handle terror in their borders well.

We have only recently remembered the fifth anniversary of the terror attacks on London. We cannot truly know the pressure that poorer, more at risk countries such as Pakistan are under to control terorists who operate with such deadly effect within their borders. The Prime Minister would do well to remember that next time he decides to do some ‘straight talking’.