While President Donald Trump in his address to the congress touched upon multiple issues, he in a triumphant tone also announced the arrest of operational commander of Daesh Shareefullah— an afghan national— who had orchestrated terrorist attack at the Kabul airport on 21 August 2021 which killed 170 afghan nationals and 13 US soldiers. Announcing that he was on his way to USA to face justice, he expressed deep sense of gratitude to Pakistan for the role that it had played in his arrest. His words in this regard were “Tonight, I am pleased to announce that we have just apprehended the top terrorist responsible for that atrocity…I want to thank especially the government of Pakistan for helping to arrest this monster,” The much wanted terrorist was arrested from Pak-Afghan border area on the basis of intelligence gathered by US and Pakistan agencies.
It is indeed a very positive vibe in regards to future relations between the two countries as it indicates a shift in Trump’s perception about Pakistan. The acknowledgement by Trump also strengthens Pakistan’s credentials as a country committed to eliminate the scourge of terrorism from the region. The confirmation of this shift also came from US National Security Advisor Michael Waltz when he called Deputy Prime Minister/foreign minister Ishaq Dar and formally conveyed Trumps’s appreciation and thanks for arresting the Daesh commander and efforts in regards to countering terrorism. Deputy Prime Minister reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to continue cooperation with US in the field of counter terrorism at the same time welcoming Trump’s announcement to withdraw US military equipment left behind in Afghanistan, which is now being used by TTP in terrorist attacks against our security forces within Pakistan. The two leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to enhance cooperation in IT, Energy, and mineral sectors and also agreed on the need to have continued dialogues on trade and investment, as part of a broad-based agenda in the days to come.
It may be mentioned that during his first stint in power Trump always looked askance at Pakistan’s role in regards to fight against terrorism and situation in Afghanistan. I believe that in view of his intense resolve to curb terrorism and his announcement to take back the arms and ammunitions from the Taliban government which was left behind by the US forces while leaving Afghanistan, he might need help from Pakistan to accomplish these objectives. It may not be a strategic cooperation between the two countries and as usual remain confined to transactional engagement but it does promise support to Pakistan in fighting the phenomenon of terrorism emanating from Afghanistan which has assumed greater intensity recently.
This change in President Trump’s tone and tenor regarding Pakistan is significant from many other aspects as well. It reflects a move away from the India-centric approach of the previous US administration which can safely be construed as recalibration of US policy in the region. It is pertinent to mention that while Trump praised Pakistan in his speech he was critical of India over tarrifs and trade. It is indeed an auspicious development as instead of continuing the policy of the previous regime of pampering and propping up India to assume the role of a regional policeman by totally ignoring Pakistan, the focus will now be on transactional reciprocity.
The foregoing developments also constitute a strong rebuke to those political entities who were expecting interference from Trump for the release of their leader for which they have been lobbying before the US election in the hope that Trump would win them. They probably conveniently ignored the fact that relations between states are not determined on personal relations but spectrum of broader national considerations.
This momentary break from the roller-coaster relations between the two countries is quite welcome at a time when Pakistan is fighting to stabilize its economy and is waging fight against terrorism on multiple fronts. Pakistan has suffered the most as a front line state in the fight against terror. It has lost more than eighty thousand security personnel and civilians while coping with terrorism and is still continuing that mission with unruffled commitment which deserves unqualified acknowledgment and appreciation from the global community.
As far as bilateral relations between US and Pakistan are concerned their nature will be dictated by the new realities and US administration’s quid pro quid approach. One thing needs to be understood that there cannot be friendship in the real sense between a super power and a developing country like Pakistan. In the past US has been an unfriendly ally to be precise. It only has been in embrace with Pakistan when it suited her interests and no sooner than those interests were realized it showed a cold shoulder to her.
In the early fifties at the beginning to the cold war which in fact was aimed at checking the spread of communism, Pakistan became a member of SEATO and CENTO formed for that purpose. Pakistan harboured the illusion of being US ally but during the 1965 war instead of helping Pakistan it stopped supply of military equipment. Then two decades war in Afghanistan became the basis of engagement between the two and at the end US abandoned Pakistan to face the legacies of that war. Pakistan helped US in making a deal with Taliban for exit of US forces from Afghanistan but after that the Biden administration pushed the relations to the lowest ebb. The Biden administration also imposed sanctions on Pakistan’s missile programme and entities related to it.
