US, Pak hardly share any strategic or economic interests: Expert
Nov 13, 2021
Washington [US], November 13 : The ties between the United States and Pakistan are driven by ad hoc security concerns and the country hardly share any strategic or economic interests, a foreign policy expert said.
In an opinion piece in American think tank Atlantic Council, Nazir Ahmad Mir, a PhD in Peace and Conflict Resolution, wrote that concerns are being expressed in the US about the nature of its relations with Islamabad.
The August 2021 withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan has yet again exposed the fragility of Pakistan-US relations, said Mir.
Noting that ties between the two countries have had an on-and-off trajectory, Mir wrote: "Right from the beginning in the 1950s, they have been established on ad hoc bases as transactional ties in which the United States has been guaranteed security and succour in exchange of money by Pakistan. Once the security threats vanish, the relationship returns to a position where they hardly share a common interest that would bind them to cooperate."
Washington is not alone in accusing Pakistan of hosting the Taliban and other terrorists, thus subverting the efforts of the US-led coalition and republic in Afghanistan, added Mir.
The government of Afghanistan had time and again accused Pakistan of being hand in glove with the Taliban and undermining the war against the latter.
"Repeating the words of then-President Ashraf Ghani, Dawa Khan Menapal, director of Afghanistan's Government Media and Information Center, told Voice of America (VOA) in May 2021 that 'we all believe that the terrorists have bases and support in Pakistan," he noted.
The United States demands that Pakistan "take decisive and irreversible action against these groups," despite having taken "some action against externally-focused militant groups and UN-designated terrorist organizations operating from its territory."
"The lopsided relationship between the United States and Pakistan exists because the two countries hardly share any strategic or economic interests. The relationship was driven by ad hoc security concerns, with both countries needing each other. Washington needed Pakistan to assure its defense against the Soviets in the 1980s and eliminating Osama Bin Laden/al-Qaeda in the 2000s; for Pakistan, these apparently unwelcome circumstances created an opportunity to make its relevance felt and monetize them. It has done so artfully, increasing security concerns for Washington by shoring up the Taliban and the Haqqani Network and extending their bases in Pakistan's territory," he wrote.
