Daniel Markey, a longtime observer of US-Pak relations, wrote in his book, “No Exit from Pakistan: America’s Tortured Relationship with Islamabad”, that “despite all the problems and trust deficit that the US had with Pakistan and its military-the answer lay in managing the problems rather than finding a solution. Daniel suggested that the US establishment and the political government should start thinking alike to have a long lasting trust-worthy relationship with Pakistan instead of a mixture of love and hate.
However, it is due to the US paradoxical ties with Pakistan that confused in their goals, sometimes, US high officials praised Pakistan’s sacrifices regarding war on terror, sometimes, admitted that stability cannot be achieved in Afghanistan without the help of Pakistan, sometimes, presumed that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons are not well-protected, sometimes, realized that US wants to improve its relationship with Pakistan, but at the same time blamed Islamabad for safe havens of militants in the country. While in connivance with India and Israel, America has been continuing its anti-Pakistan activities by supporting militancy in Pakistan and separatism in Balochistan province.
While Pakistan’s regional rival India’s role is appreciated Donald Trump said, “We appreciate India’s important contributions to stability in Afghanistan … We want them to help us more with Afghanistan. Pakistan rejected being made scapegoats for the policy failures of the US and India. Trump undermined the country’s major contributions towards that war. It seems Trump has no knowledge of this region.
Notably, international community knows very well that Pakistan’s Armed Forces have successfully broken the backbone of the foreign-backed terrorists by the military operations Zarb-e-Azb and Radd-ul-Fasaad. Peace has been restored in various regions of Pakistan, including Karachi and Balochistan province.
It is worth-mentioning that the incoming Commander of the United States Central Command (US CENTCOM) General Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr. called on Prime Minister Imran Khan and COAS in this month. The meeting with Gen Bajwa is important from two perspectives. First it is important that America’s l new military leadership interacts with its Pakistan, counterpart. Pakistan and the US military feel pride on Carrying personal ties and direct communication lines which have served well when it comes to the U9 and Pakistan’s bilateral relationship. Even when-the America’s political leadership targets Islamabad, the US military is believed to have retained different policy towards Pakistan. For instance, it has been reported that Trump’s decision to stop Pakistan’s military training program was disapproved by the Pentagon. However, the high level meeting shows that the US considers Pakistan a strategic actor in Afghanistan and South Asia. Pakistan should use such meetings to make its position clear on India’s efforts to destabilize the region. Despite improvement in the Pak-US relations, Pakistan cannot trust on America on permanent basis, as the US is still pursuing paradoxical policy in connection with Pakistan by preferring New Delhi at the cost of Islamabad.
Kaiser Ahmad Rather
Lynn University, USA
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