The initial triumph with which the Pakistani authorities had exerted a strategic bondage with the Americans has long been quelled by the sobering reminder that relations between the US and India undermines its link with us which has only been built to take lives of too many people, indulge in military adventures and violating territorial rights for far too long now.
The claims, made by the Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, of initiating a dialogue on the subject of civil nuclear deal between both the countries during the third round of the strategic discourse last month remains, by and large, a monologue. Keeping the trajectory of the US thought in mind, one is compelled to conclude that this particular Pakistani desire would remain as nothing but another carrot that could dangle for eternity in our faces.
We have to face the fact that pressing the US to view Pakistan without mistrust by aligning the interest of both the countries at one level is not an easy job and the sloppy work of our politicians has played central to reversing the relations as they focus primarily on the carrot at hand without providing any concrete policy for proceeding further. In this backdrop of prevalent incompetence and irretrievable corruption among the political leaders what can be accepted from the US, other than criticism.
Apparently, the only issue under discussion that is close to the American heart is the (in)famous War on Terror and the American realization that Pakistan still remains a pivotal force in bringing the war towards an end by indulging in a military operation followed by peace negotiations. Therefore, the only tangible outcome of the dialogue was the conditional $2 billion in aid to the Pakistani military which was hitherto denied to Pakistan, despite aiding the US in its war, in the previous dialogues.
This clearly indicates the comprehensive failure of the Pakistani authorities to alter the general perception and attitude of the US towards Pakistan as it is still being denied access to international markets or to address the economic and power crisis that is being aggravated by the present flood disaster. For how long are we going to blame the US for our woes? Do our own people pass scot free as we feel oppressed-by-the-world and delve into self pity? Can we also blame America for the misery of the hundreds of Hajis, who feel unable to pray for their country due to the evil practices of the state? Lets just think before we speak!
LUBNA UMAR
Islamabad
