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 extremism. Internal and external security threats are linked, of course. But internal cohesion can only be accentuated by missteps in Afghanistan or in dealings with India. In Pakistan, internal security is of paramount importance, as Gen ayani repeatedly says. !o the outside world, Pakistan"s efforts in this regard are overshadowed by those who use its soil to carry out violent acts across borders. It"s 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 Pakistan"s 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 &'. misadventures in Afghanistan, and could be destabilised further if India gains a foothold there to use as a staging ground to support disaffection in Balochistan. A role reversal of this kind, mirroring India"s decades#long misfortunes in ashmir, could only multiply Pakistan"s domestic woes. A political settlement, if one can be found, will have to tackle this issue which, in turn, re(uires improved ties between Pakistan and India. )awa* 'harif has great sympathy and support in %ashington. !he +bama administration will continue to provide assistance to tackle Pakistan"s economic, energy and internal security woes. $irst impressions in %ashington, as in Pakistan, suggest a man hobbled by the immensity of his country"s problems and the obstacles that others so easily place in his path. ,ast month, at the margins of &) General Assembly speechmaking, he and Indian Prime -inister -anmohan 'ingh promised to (uiet exchanges of fire across the ashmir divide. !hese flares appear to outsiders as contrived to prevent )awa* from pursuing what he so clearly wants . improved relations and greater direct trade with India. As long as firing across the ashmir divide continues, it suggests opposition to this agenda, which is critical to Pakistan"s well#being. -ore difficult, by orders of magnitude, will be taking action against extremists that are driving up Pakistan"s death toll. ,eaving aside countries like 'yria which are in the throes

of a civil war, Pakistan now ranks above Afghanistan, and second only to Ira(, in fatalities due to sectarian violence. The writer is co-founder of the Stimson Centre in Washington.