America, a selfish friend

Pakistan’s perspective

As the 16th anniversary of 9\11 neared, President Donald Trump had to revise his policy towards Afghanistan. It was surprisingly more about Pakistan and less about Afghanistan as President Donald Trump said: “We have been paying Pakistan billions and billions of dollars at the same time they are housing the very terrorists that we are fighting” and even Commander General John Nicholson stationed in Afghanistan accuses Pakistan that, “Afghan (Taliban) leadership is still present in Peshawar and Quetta”. Instead of withdrawing troops from Afghanistan Donald Trump departed from the Obama’s Withdrawal Policy and told the media that we are going to send more troops to Afghanistan so that they can work along with Afghan National Defense Security Forces (ANDSF). Pakistan was once again asked to do more. We may all agree to the fact that there are some terrorists left in Pakistan here and there running for their lives because Pakistani forces are trying to eliminate all terrorists from its soil with its operations such as Zarb-e-Azab and Radd-ul-Fasad. Considering all these efforts, we can safely say that Pakistan is neither a haven for terrorists nor Pakistan is funding any of the terrorist outfits. As already officially stated by National Security Committee after Donald Trump’s accusations, “America has been using Pakistani Air bases, NATO supply routes and intelligence services for WOT and our armed forces have already sacrificed more than 70,000 soldiers and civilians in American WOT and the aid given to us is already way too less because the damage estimates go up to $120b”. National Security Committee of Pakistan also said, “Now it is the time that they do more by eliminating terrorists from eastern Afghanistan which are trying to do terrorist activities in Pakistan.”

A brief history of Pak-Us relations

The need of friendship for smaller states with bigger ones has always been for security purposes and mutual growth as it was in Pakistan and when there were two blocks on the world map, Pakistan chose America and only America because it was a democratic state. Pakistan; a new state, trying to prove its worth in the world, first established relations with America on 20 October 1947, and it continues with its ups and downs. Throughout this 70-year period, United States of America has used Pakistan for its strategic interests in the region with a small incentive of aid and a promise of prosperity. But the amount of the aid was too less that in making America a super power, we could do nothing but to use that to recover from the losses that happened along the way of making Uncle Sam happy.

1965 Indo-Pak war

Pakistan was an American ally, and India was on the Russian side. Our sole arms supplier was the US. But it placed an arms embargo on Pakistan at the crucial time which directly compromised Pakistan’s national security. On the other hand, it didn’t affect India that much as India had other arms suppliers too. All this happened regardless of the fact that the Pakistan was part of the agreement with the US which stated:”It would protect Pakistan from external threats.”

1971 war

The same thing happened in the war of 1971 where India was providing support to the separatist group Mukti-Bahini in East-Pakistan (now Bangladesh), and instead of helping its ally Pakistan in the war against Indian aggression, it remained silent. On the other hand, India got every type of support from the USSR. India continued ammunition supplies, tactical and practical support to separatists in East Pakistan and attacked Pakistan finally to finish the agenda of making Bangladesh. Pakistan’s army had to surrender because it did not want to kill its own people.

Ally against USSR

Pakistan helped West Germany with financial aid so it may prosper and not feel the need to ask help from East Germany, which at that time was under USSR’s control. Pakistan helped USA in Cold War era against the USSR and also became a member of Central Treaty Organisation (CENTO) and South Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO) to stop the expansion of communism in South Asia. Pakistan played a key role in first Afghan War when the mighty USSR attacked Afghanistan and took over the government by placing a pro-USSR government. General Zia-ul-Haq helped organise Islamist Jihadis to fight against the USSR by providing Peshawar air bases to be used against USSR in Afghanistan, Zia-ul-Haq moved forward with the concept of Islamisation in Pakistan in the entire country so the Afghan war may get a maximum number of man power that could be used to fight against USSR. The irony is that after-shocks of Islamisation are still here in the form of an extremist school of thought in the country which tries to support extremism in one way or another and the Pakistani government has been trying to eliminate them one by one.

Helping establish good relations with China

Pakistan played a significant role in helping United States of America to have good bilateral relations with the People’s Republic of China by arranging a top secret diplomatic visit to PRC for President Nixon’s National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger in July 1971 during his visit to Pakistan. In a result of that diplomatic visit President Nixon was able to visit Beijing, China on 21 February 1972, and have a meeting with Chairman Mao. This tour ended 25 years of frosty relationship between both of the countries. On the other hand, America has never supported our stance on Indian Occupied Kashmir, and we have fought many wars with India on this particular bone of contention.

Nuclear tests

The US turned its back to Pakistan at another point when India successfully tested its nuclear bomb in May 1998. For all logical reasons, Pakistan had to reciprocate to protect itself and when Pakistan did a show of power, were placed under sanctions such as suspension of foreign assistance, termination of foreign military sales, issuance of executive orders to prohibit the US banks from extending loans to Pakistani government, etc. So people of Pakistan are of the view that the United States is not a trustworthy and reliable friend in crucial times as it only uses the name of friendship to get out of trouble with the help of Pakistan in this region.

War on terror

After the attack on World Trade Center, Pakistan gave its airports to the American air force for attacks against the Taliban on Afghani soil. We gave access to our air bases, routes for NATO supply, intelligence services for cracking down insurgents who fled to Pakistan after the attack on Afghanistan and gave refugee status to more than three million Afghan civilians.

Mistrust among allies

A recent wave of suspicion started when the USA began to hide information from Pakistan and started doing secret operations either against or in Pakistan without its permission or knowledge. A total of 326 drone attacks were done on Pakistani soil which did more harm than benefit as these drone attacks killed a total of 2,822 people and around 50pc of them were civilians. In the year 2017 alone four drone attacks were carried out by the US on Pakistani soil. On 2 May 2011 America conducted a secret raid in Abbottabad claiming to kill Osama-bin Laden without any knowledge or prior permission from Pakistani government which led to another diplomatic clash. It is clearly against our national sovereignty that another country’s forces cross its borders for an offensive without taking any prior permission. On 26 November 2011, US-led NATO forces engaged in a fight with Pakistani security forces at two Pakistani check-posts and killed 28 Pakistani soldiers and left 12 others wounded. Later, on 3 July 2012, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton officially apologised for the losses. On 26 January 2011, a former United States soldier and a private security firm employee working for the American consulate in Lahore on a covert operation, shot two people dead in Lahore’s Muzang Chowk and fled the crime scene. An American Consulate’s SUV coming for his help killed another motorcyclist because the SUV started to move in the wrong direction to avoid traffic. The police later caught Raymond Davis and forcefully, blood money was paid to the heirs for his release after roughly a three-month trial.

Proxy war by India in Pakistan.

Pakistan has always been accused of proxy war and funding terrorists’ outfits by India although it has always denied these allegations and said: “It is the other way around.” On 3 March 2016 Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhava, serving commander in the Indian navy, was arrested from Balochistan, Pakistan, on charges of spying on Pakistani soil and encouraging and funding terrorism for Indian intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

This proves Pakistan’s stance on terrorism that the India is responsible for harbouring and funding terrorism in the region. On 10 April 2017, he was sentenced to death by a Field General Court Martial (FGCM). Later the Indian government challenged the decision in International Court of Justice (ICJ). The case is still pending.

Recent anti terror operations in Pakistan

Operation Rah-e-Nijat was a full-scale operation as it cleared the entire South Waziristan. This action helped wipe out terrorist hideouts from the region and give control back to the Pakistani government. In 2007 Operation Rah-e-Haq was conducted before Rah-e-Nijat, but it ended in an agreement between Taliban and Pakistani government but later in 2009 Rah-e-Nijat was commenced to wipe out the Taliban from the entire area. In this operation 20,000, paramilitary/police force took part and was successfully able to eliminate Taliban from this area. It started after an attack on Karachi Airport in June 2014 in which up to 30,000 Pakistani soldiers took part under the strategy “Seek, Destroy, Clear, Hold.” According to Fata Disaster Management Authority (FDMA) after the commencement of operation Zarb-e-Azab, 800,000 people were registered in the list of Internally Displaced Person (IDPs).

What America shall do (policy guidelines)

The United States of America should appreciate the efforts made by Pakistani forces, civilians and government as a whole to eliminate extremism from the region. Pakistan has lost assets worth more than $120b, and such war cannot be fought without financial resources which unfortunately Pakistan lacks. Adam Stump, a Pentagon spokesperson, said: “The funds could not be released to the government of Pakistan at this time because the [defense] secretary could not certify that Pakistan has taken sufficient action against the Haqqani Network.”

If the US wants the Pakistani government to eliminate remaining terrorists in its premises, then it shall not only release the $350m pending military aid but also announce a support package that is proportional to our losses, service, and effort against terrorism. Seven Pakistani firms are facing sanctions by the United States. These were involved in our defense development work. NESCOM, one of the companies, is responsible for Pakistan’s various strategic deterrence programs. The United States shall lift sanctions from these firms immediately. It is going to help Pakistan achieve its success against the terrorists much more easily and efficiently.

India has not lost a single life in saving American interests in the region, so putting it first against Pakistan who has lost thousands of its countrymen for the United States is deplorable. In the same tone, as was used for Pakistan, the Trump administration shall consider warning India by imposing sanctions on it for the acts of sponsoring terrorists in the region especially after the arrest of Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav. It is in the interest of Afghanistan and United States that Pakistan is given more importance in the establishment of peace in Afghanistan than the Pakistan’s arch-rival India who has been caught red handed funding terrorism in the region through her spies. It is also worth noting that as an ally of Pakistan, the US shall consider Pakistan’s strategic interests first than India. India has done more harm than good for the region as an example we can see the situation of Sri-Lanka where it was India who was funding the rebel groups, and it was Pakistan who helped the Sri-Lanka fight all those terrorist groups to maintain peace.

Above all, the United States must stop double standards of check and balance in the region and ask other countries in the region to do more as well and ask them to stop funding terrorism as well. United States should itself also do more in the east Afghanistan where the Taliban have a strong hold and from where they conduct insurgencies within Pakistan. Pakistan has already cleared 90pc of its troubled areas from the Taliban and has started fencing the Durand Line because that is the only way that Terrorist groups may not slip inside Pakistan in the future. Now it is a time that the United States starts destroying Taliban hideouts in east Afghanistan as well to full-fill its part of the job to end the extremism from this region.