Larry Pressler, Republican politician and former senator from South Dakota, is popularly known as Delhi’s man in Washington, though he pleads his commitment and mission to the cause of nuclear non-proliferation. But nobody would buy his logic, as Pakistan was the target of the Pressler amendment. As chairman of the US Senate’s Arms Control Subcommittee, Larry Pressler advocated the Pressler Amendment enforced in 1990 when President George H.W. Bush did not certify that Pakistan was not developing a nuclear weapon. In view of this amendment, aid and military sales to Pakistan were blocked, including a consignment of F-16 fighter aircraft. It led to deterioration in Pak-US relations, and die was cast for Indo-US strategic partnership. Larry Pressler would not let any opportunity go to demonize Pakistan, and last year, he published a book titled ‘Neighbours in Arms: An American Senator’s Quest for Disarmament in a Nuclear Subcontinent’.
A former member of the U.S. Congress and a three-term Senator, Pressler is known for the Pressler Amendment of 1985, which banned most economic and military assistance to Pakistan in the absence of certification from the U.S. President of its non-possession of a nuclear device. This book reveals what went on behind the scenes in the years when the Pressler Amendment was in force. The book provides a comprehensive account of how US foreign policy in the subcontinent was formed from 1974 till today, and ends with recommendations of a new US-India alliance that could be a model for American allies in future. In his recent article carried by Hindustan Times titled ‘Thank you President Trump for identifying Pakistan as liar about terrorism’ wrote: “Let me turn our attention to President Donald Trump and his declaration that Pakistan should be declared a terrorist State and have its US aid cut off.”
In the article, he welcomed anti-Pakistan stance of Trump calling Pakistan a rogue and terrorist state. He hailed Trump’s latest policy on South Asia and the tweets by him displayed an intimidating position against Pakistan. He thanked Trump for being the first U.S. President to openly attack Pakistan and to identify Pakistan as liar on the issue of terrorism and also appreciated him for moving U.S. closer to India. He went on to state: “In Neighbours in Arms, I advocated that Pakistan be considered a terrorist State. In President Trump’s review of Asian policy, the State Department distributed a dozen of my books throughout the various federal agencies. Indeed, on page 223, in my observations and prescriptions of the future, I wrote: “Pakistan’s leaders have essentially blackmailed us into providing aid for the war on terror with threats to cease assistance in rooting out terrorists in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, we know full well that Pakistan harbours terrorists, and many military leaders believe terrorists have infiltrated Pakistan’s ranks.”
India has a strong lobby in US Congress and think tanks in the US. This is the reason that Larry Pressler and other writers downplay Pakistan’s sacrifices. In fact, no country has assisted U.S. in the war of terror, with the magnitude that Pakistan did. Pakistan offered tremendous sacrifices of its security forces and civilians alike to root out terrorism from the region. U.S needs Pakistan if it has to continue its presence in Afghanistan. Peace in Afghanistan is not possible without taking Pakistan on board as a major stake holder. Of course there are conscionable elements who acknowledge Pakistan’s positive role in war on terror. A supporting article written by Patric Wintour was published in “The Guardian” on 15 February 2018, titled “Pakistan Asks Trump to Help Fund Border Fence with Afghanistan”. This reflected the summary of his talk with DG ISPR, NSA to PM and Chief Minister Balochistan.
In a bunker at the headquarters of the army’s 7th Infantry Division, Col. Wasiuddin said 11,136 border posts and 443 forts are being installed on the Pakistani side – seven times more than on the Afghan side. Wassiuddin said Pakistan planned to complete the fence by 2019, apart from a section in the extreme north of the country. The border will be fitted with underground movement sensors and a network of CCTV cameras, He wrote: “We will know exactly who is entering and or exiting at every crossing point,” he said. The plan is part of an effort to show that Pakistan has a plan to ease the Afghan crisis – rather than simply rejecting Trump’s preferred outcome of a military defeat of the Afghan Taliban.
