7/29/2019 A Patchy Relationship

1/2

1

A Patchy Relationship

Maria Syed

Amidst mixed signals coming from the US, it is hard to make out what lies ahead inPak-US relations. The off-again and on-again syndrome is not pointing out towards adefinite course of things for Pak-US relations.First came the Chicago summit where Pakistan was invited at the last minute. Oncethere it got a cold shoulder from the US. Then was the threat to cut off aid to Pakistanover imprisoning Dr. Shakil Afridi. Statement of Defense Secretary Leon Panetta,

backed by lawmakers and Chairman US J oints Chiefs of Staff Gen Martin Dempseythat the US is running out of patience with Pakistan sent alarming signals.Nevertheless Gen Dempsey acknowledged the efforts being put up by Pakistan infighting militants on Pakistans territory.A lull in tensions was recently seen with a few developments. The US secretary ofDefence Leon Panetta has strongly recommended not cutting off aid to Pakistan.Senator Dianne Feinstein expressed in a senate hearing that the national security ofthe US can be improved through building a positive relationship with Pakistan.Senator Feinstein also suggested that apologizing Pakistan will improve the bilateralrelationship. The bid to cut off aid to Pakistan did not see the daylight when it wasblocked by the majority leader in the Senate Harry Reid saying that there is a right

time for everything and the important thing is to convey the message over Dr. ShakilAfridi which they had.The relations between Pakistan and the US have been turbulent since 2011. Thewrangling has continued ever since the NATO attack on Salala check post on the Pak-Afghan border killing 24 Pakistani soldiers. The deadlock persists over certain issuessuch as apology over the Salala incident and cessation of drone strikes.Both allies have been trying hard to make the other feel envious through warming upto each others hostile forces. The visit of Russias special envoy to Afghanistan andChinese foreign minister must be of crucial significance to the US. The visit of Russianenvoy must be seen in the context of a concerned regional power that is affected bythe situation in Afghanistan. All the regional countries have much at stake in

Afghanistan. And if they believe regional cooperation can help them achieve goalsthan it must not worry others.The US has gone way ahead of Pakistan by actually signing long-term cooperationagreements with India. A US company has inked a deal with India and is setting up anuclear reactor in India. While Pakistan has always expressed its reservation againstlarger Indian role in Afghanistan, the US paying no heed to Pakistans concerns hassigned a trilateral mechanism for holding talks with India and Afghanistan. Cozying up

7/29/2019 A Patchy Relationship

2/2

2

with India has certainly not gone unnoticed in Pakistan. Keeping out Pakistan of anAfghan solution and that too involving India can never go well with Pakistan.The US has always come hard on Pakistan for not doing enough; the US mustunderstand that the combined power of NATO countries under the ISAF mission hasfailed miserably in Afghanistan. Pakistan has helped in the past to eliminate terrorism

and will continue to do so. Pakistan does not have a magical wand to put away all theundesirable issues in Afghanistan.Both countries should realize that they need each other. There is much commonground between the two states. For one, in the post-2014 both sides do not wantAfghanistan falling victim to instability, civil strife and chaos. Pakistan being the nextdoor neighbour gets affected closely by any outcome in Afghanistan, a peacefulprosperous Afghanistan makes a peaceful prosperous Pakistan. Bickering and fightingwith each other will not help Afghanistan.If the US takes a u-turn this time in its ties with Pakistan, it may ingrain forever in theminds of the Pakistani public that the US is not a trust-worthy ally. They will benostalgic; remembering how Pakistan was left in the cold after the US had achieved its

interests in Afghanistan in the 1980s. During the decade-long alliance betweenPakistan and the US, Pakistani public remained skeptical of the US. It takes a longtime to build up trust and seconds to destroy it. After ditching Pakistan this time it willnot be easy for the US to come asking for Pakistans help if the need arises next time.Pakistan must learn from its experiences and revamp its foreign policy. LimitingPakistans ties to a single camp and a power has always restricted Pakistans foreignpolicy options. To have friendly relations with all countries including the regional statesand the US should be a permanent element of the foreign policy and not on the need-to-need basis..

The writer works for Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI)

This article was carried byThe Frontier Post, 27 J une, 2012