US: the ally from hell

The curious timing of the Balochistan resolution

The marriage of convenience between Pakistan and the US has long soured into a marriage of distrust, inconvenience and duplicity. While Washington has been clamouring about Pakistan not doing enough for the War on Terror, Islamabad has repeatedly felt betrayed by the US for not living up to their promises and continued drone strikes in Pakistani territory. The incident of Salala check post seemed to be the final nail in the coffin, and surely in the aftermath of the Salala attack, the relationship catapulted for the worse. “Absolute nonsense!” was the reply of a senior foreign office official, after I inquired about the reports that were emerging about the incident from NATO. “Following their failure in Afghanistan, the NATO forces are merely trying to shift the blame to Pakistan. I have read the NATO report and it is nothing more than recycling information, to try to divert attention from their evident failure in Afghanistan. There is nothing new in the report. They need to get their house in order before pointing fingers at us.”

And surely the tone of the foreign office official, speaking on condition of anonymity, sets the general mood prevalent in certain quarters of Islamabad. Pakistan is not happy, China is well aware of US’ duplicity, Russia isn’t too keen on US misadventures in the region either. And what about the most important ally of the US in the region, India? Well, according to The Times, India is not only continuing to purchase oil from Iran but has also become the largest customer of Iranian oil and has no plans of cutting down these purchases.

Indians, in a very matter of fact tone, said that their purchasing of Iranian oil is a matter of economic necessity given their dependence on oil. If we recall, this isn’t the first time that India decided to stick it up to the Americans. India after flirting with the US, betrayed the country by finalising a 12 billion dollar defence deal with France for buying the Rafale fighter jets over American F-16IN/F-18 Super Hornet, Russian Mig-35, Swedish Gripen and the last final contender the Eurofighter Typhoon.

Therefore, the Americans huddled up in their cozy ‘we are better than you’ cocoons decided that oil embargoes on Iran would be the best way to bring the country to its knees. Simply adding up the numbers, they felt that since the country’s economy derives much of its income from oil sales, sanctions will cripple the state, all the Iranian oil customers would be lost, Iran would not be able to tap into the alien races on Mars for oil exports, and thus with stocked inventories the people would run to the streets begging for food, and Ahmedinejad would cry out to Uncle Obama. Clearly, you can note the sarcasm in my tone, because till now no one has abandoned Iran and they do not seem in a mood to do so.

And in such a setting, the tripartite summit, between the leaders of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran has sent strong tremors to Washington. The regional leaders realise that following the withdrawal of the US forces from Afghanistan, the fallout of a volatile situation in Kabul would have devastating implications for Islamabad and Tehran. While the outcome of the summit and the success of it remain to be seen, one thing is for certain; the regional players have realised that they can no longer afford to rely on the false promises of the US. Islamabad’s commitment to the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline is also an indication of the changing priorities of those sitting in the echelons of power in the country.

With all things US, they decided it was time to play their trump, Baloch card. The leadership in Pakistan clearly has ignored the region for far too long. However, at the same time, the Baloch community has also been betrayed by the tribal leaders. What stands out though is the curious timing of the resolution, calling for the right of the Baloch people to self-determination, which was tabled during the visit of Karzai and Ahmedinejad to Islamabad. For the discerning eye, this is a desperate attempt of the US to exacerbate the imbroglio being brewed in Balochistan. And while one can forgive the Americans for tabling the resolution, one fails to understand the role of the army in the region that has allowed insurgents to freely operate in the province. Pakistan can no longer afford to ignore matters as it did in Swat or the tribal areas. It will have to take action, it will have to give the Baloch people a stake in the matters and it will have to free the Baloch from the fetters of the regressive tribal leaders.

As for the US, it finds itself badly cornered. An interventionist approach has not worked and will not work in South Asia and the Middle East anymore. With their debts exceeding 15 trillion dollars, it needs to focus on the American people and let others decide what is best for them.

The writer is City Editor, Pakistan Today. He can be reached at [email protected]