It is rare for two countries, despite enjoying favourable long term bilateral relations, to always see eye-to-eye on all issues. Pakistan has a prominent geostrategic presence in the region but it comes at a cost, being between archrival India and volatile Afghanistan. It is primarily this positioning and the fact that we are the only Muslim nation in the world to possess nuclear weapons that makes us an important ally for the USA.
Pakistan and the USA have maintained close diplomatic relations over the past 75 years, seeing some very turbulent times along the way. Militarily speaking, Pakistan has provided crucial support in two of its wars, both in Afghanistan, one against Russia during the 1980s and then the recently ended ‘War on Terror’ against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. Although a significant sum of money was provided by the USA as military aid to Pakistan during the latter conflict, the loss of life and economic cost vastly outweighs the monetary compensation. Yet, both countries continued to maintain close ties and coordination during those years of active fighting that brought about the worst period of terrorism Pakistan has witnessed in its history, necessitating multiple domestic military operations to clear our badlands of violent terrorists.
While the US has left Afghanistan in a rather abrupt and reckless manner, allowing the Taliban to establish a very unstable and fragile government, it still wishes to keep an eye on them to monitor terrorist activity through surveillance and Pakistan is a necessary component in that effort owing to its military strength and intelligence network, and a common goal of reducing terrorism in the region. Last week the USA approved to sell F-16 equipment worth $450 million to Pakistan to ‘greatly improve its ability to support counterterrorism operations through its robust air-to-ground capability’, much to another one of the former’s allies, India. That the US prioritizes its key security alliances over ‘softer’ bilateral partnerships is a welcome indication of the diplomatic direction it wants to take in the region.
From a trade standpoint, the USA is Pakistan’s biggest trade partner making up for over 21 percent or $6.1 billion of total exports last year. One hopes that the current PPP Foreign Ministry team, along with the federal government, is able to maintain this fine balance in relations with the USA going forward as well, something which will prove crucial with the IMF talks, FATF reviews and making Pakistan more secure.
