By Sarmad Ali Khan
With the inception of Pakistan, the country opted for the U.S. bloc over the Soviet side as the then Prime Minister of Pakistan visited the U.S. first during the Cold War period. Pakistan extended its full support to the U.S. being a member of SEATO and CENTO by providing airbases and intelligence services to it. However, when Pakistan’s Army got stranded while India was helping the Mukti Bahini, the promised 7th fleet never came to the rescue.
Pakistan, on the other hand, played pivotal role in bridging the gap between China and U.S. and easing the tensions.
Similarly, with the commencement of Afghan War in 1979 and afterwards the initiation of global War on Terror in 2001, Pakistan became a frontline ally of the U.S. owing to its geographical proximity and ideological alignment. Pakistan’s relations with the U.S. cemented when it participated in the Afghan War for the containment of the then Soviet Union. The tragic terrorist attack on twin-towers, the famous 9/11 attack, paved two ways for Pakistan either to join the global War on Terror or not but the U.S. became very hardliner on the issue.
When it came to joining the global War on Terror, U.S.-Pak relations faced great distress as immense American pressure was mounting on Pakistan with former President George W. Bush’s aggressive remarks, “You are either with us or against us in the fight against terror”, leaving no option for Pakistan than to join the global effort.
However, in international relations and diplomacy, there are no permanent friends or enemies and the alliances keep changing best suited with the national interests and objectives of a country. Countries all over the world tend to maximize their power and achieve their national objectives for which they do not take into account the alliances, pacts, treaties or any agreements which hinder the achievement of it.
The U.S.-Pakistan relations have faced extreme turbulence from the past eight months in which the Trump administration has frequently coerced Islamabad to ‘DO MORE’ in the War on Terror for pursuing Washington’s South Asia Strategy. The bilateral relations between both the states started deteriorating in 2016 with the refusal of U.S. congress to finance the $699 million F-16 jet fighter deal through a U.S.-sponsored loan program for military sales. Pakistan urged the American government that it was necessary for the its military to have latest jet fighters in order to carry out strikes on terrorist groups in the region (RFE/RL 2016).
Moreover, the U.S. government has criticized Pakistan of harboring terrorists and providing safe havens to them; destabilizing regional peace and using them for proxy wars. U.S. government also alleged Pakistan to support some of the militant groups that are continuously leading insurgencies against U.S.-backed government in Pakistan. (RFE/RL 2016)
Both the countries have not been able to reach common grounds or to develop understanding for solving the problems. Recently, the U.S. started strategic partnership with India in which it signed a security agreement; Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement ‘COMCASA’ with India. COMCASA enabled the U.S. and India to gain upward momentum in boosting ties and augmenting similar approach towards South Asia. The agreement aims at the transfer of U.S. made communication security equipment to India for facilitating inter-operability between the two defense forces along with other armed forces that use U.S.-origin systems for secured data links (Pant 2018).
On the other hand, bilateral relations between the U.S. and Pakistan are significantly deteriorating. The U.S. Department of Defense pronounced a final decision of suspending the $300 million tranche of Coalition Support Fund (CSF) compensations for Pakistan, which were announced earlier by the U.S. government. This decision was publicized shortly before the arrival of Secretary Pompeo to meet the newly formed government of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, led by Prime Minister Imran Khan – who has an anti-American streak. According to the U.S. officials, America was unable to see any tangible progress in fighting terrorism and extremism for which the funds are allocated (Panda 2018).
During his visit to Pakistan, Pompeo said, “The rationale for them not getting the money is very clear, it’s that we haven’t seen the progress that we need to see from them and the very reason for this trip is to try to articulate what it is our expectation is. We need Pakistan to seriously engage to help us get to the reconciliation we need in Afghanistan.” (Panda 2018).
President Donald Trump has also remained aggressive on the issue and has used Twitter to issue strong condemnation against Pakistan. He has asserted that the American government has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid and has received lies and deceit in return. “They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!” Trump’s tweets were followed by aid deferrals adding up to more than $900 million (Panda 2018).
Conclusion
The current situation of bilateral relations of the U.S. and Pakistan have experienced surprised ups and downs. Analysts argue that after the Russian annexation of Crimea, the actions of U.S. and its allies for isolating Russia drawing it closer to China. Being a close friend of China, Pakistan has also gained momentum in its upward trajectory when it comes to augmenting relation with Russia. This transition has led to the political power maximization of Russia and China. Fearing its displacement, in this scenario, Washington is exercising only limited leverage on Pakistan and is on the way to develop strong relations with an alternative option i.e. India.
Pakistan has always relied more on American than any other country. In the context of building peace, both countries need each other’s cooperation and reappraisal of relations to bring stability to not only Afghanistan but the region as whole. Pakistan will benefit the most with Afghanistan’s stability for which it has to revamp its ties with the U.S.
The U.S. unilateralism is becoming a bone of contention between the two countries as American demands supremacy over China. The U.S. should revisit its South Asia Strategy by paying attention to the geopolitical power transitions and realignment of alliances.
(The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of World Geostrategic Insights).