Shamsa Ashfaq
Since inception, Pakistan has been into a bilateral relationship with United States. The US was amongst the first nation to recognize and establish relations with a newly born state – Pakistan. Consequently Pakistan allied itself with the U.S during the Cold War era against the Soviet Union and also played a crucial role in arranging the 1972 Nixon visit to China which led to normalization of ties between the two countries. Having said that, Pak-US relations cannot be termed very cordial or warm as it has always been a need-based relationship. However, Pakistan’s geo-strategic position has always kept US interests alive in the country. For instance, the moment of triumph in Pak-US relations came during Soviet invasion of Afghanistan when US needed a client state to fight their war and found Pakistan a willing partner. However, immediately after Russian defeat in Afghanistan, Pressler Amendment brought out in the open the reality of Pak-US relationship. Similarly, after 9/11 attacks and the subsequent war on terror (WoT), Pakistan once again assumed an important role in American geopolitical interests in the region. Relations between the two countries were strengthened as the United States named Pakistan a major non-NATO ally in 2002 which allowed for the release of over billions of dollars of aid to Pakistan. American recovery efforts following the 2005 Kashmir earthquake were widely appreciated by the Pakistani public. Again the ties witnessed downward trend following Raymond Davis issue and OBL operation carried out by US Navy SEALs violating the sovereignty of Pakistan.
Once again, the US is engaged in extensive economic, social, scientific and vital military assistance with Pakistan, while Pakistan continues to occupy a strategic position in the United States’ interests in Central and South Asia. The United States is the second-largest supplier of military equipment to Pakistan after China, and is one of Pakistan’s largest donors of foreign assistance. There is no denying the fact that Pakistan and US always had a hiccupped relationship but it also substantiates that Pakistan has always been and continue to be an indispensable ally of United States. Paradoxically, the necessity which keeps Pak-US ties going in spite of all odds has always been a matter of grave concern for India and now Afghanistan as well.
In the post 9/11 scenario, India found ample opportunities of restricting Pakistan’s influence in Afghanistan and accrue maximum US favours in the region by sidelining Pakistan. Indian involvement in Afghanistan is also influenced by the “Gujral doctrine” which posits that India, being a dominant power in the region has a duty to support and strengthen its neighbors without expecting reciprocity. This is how India emerged out as a major fault line in defining the Pak-Afghan relations and exploiting every opportunity to damage continuity of Pak-US relations.
Now the Afghan Media is engaged in stirring up negative sentiments by highlighting baseless hype to create hatred and enmity between Pakistan, US and other countries of the world. Media outlets are free to air and publish distorted reports, baseless stories and unfounded news without any authenticity. Afghan media on behest of India is even misleading foreign journalists. Recent case in point is the false reporting about US General Joseph Francis Dunford Jr, 19th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff remarks concerning 6th threat to the US under prevailing environment. On 23 Feb 2017, while talking to the forum in the Brookings Institute, General Joseph identified “Solvency” as the sixth major threat to the US. However Afghan based TOLO news Channel misquoted the remarks by deceitfully reporting that general identified Pakistan as sixth threat to US with the primary purpose of creating dissension between US and Pakistan relations. It is high time that the regulating bodies must take action against violators and motivate media personnel to contribute for peace rather than obliterate it. Pakistan remains committed to global peace efforts with special focus on Afghanistan. It is unfortunate that the Pakistan’s sincere efforts for global peace and stability are being maligned by Indo-Afghan hostile elements on one pretext or the other.
Terrorism is a common threat and its elimination requires close regional and international cooperation. Therefore it is important to understand by the Indian-backed Afghan propaganda mongers that it would not be affordable to erode the salience of the Pak-US relationship, which may seem like a bad marriage to many but is one where divorce is not an option.
