Pakistan through an American Lens

Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, America launched an aggressive ‘War on Terror,’ going after not only those who were directly responsible for launching the 9/11 attacks but also anyone who was deemed to have been supportive of aggression against America. The then U.S. President George Bush’s famous “with us or against us” statement succinctly framed the U.S. approach.

The 9/11 attacks appeared to have emanated from forces having sanctuary in Afghanistan. It was only a few short weeks before a full-scale U.S. invasion was launched against Afghanistan. Out of necessity, Pakistan became an important partner in America›s war in Afghanistan. Pakistan controlled both land and air access into landlocked Afghanistan.

Over the years much has been written about whether Pakistan was a willing participant in the ‘coalition of the willing,’ or was coerced into it through American pressure. It took no more than a few weeks for the Taliban regime in Kabul to fall. America then soon turned to a nation-building exercise, something it had declared it would not do. This ultimately turned into America›s longest foreign war, costing the U.S. exchequer an estimated $2 trillion.

Somewhere in this 20-year journey, it appears American and Pakistani goals in the region started to diverge. Several moves in Afghanistan by the U.S. started to be seen in Pakistan as counter to its own interests. Chief among them were America›s efforts to carve out an increasingly influential role for India in Afghanistan. Pakistan’s security establishment feared having an emboldened India on both its eastern and western borders.

The U.S., on the other hand, increasingly felt their Pakistani partners were not fully on board with American goals in Afghanistan. Key players of the Afghani Taliban regime who were dispersed within a few weeks of the US invasion of the country, were reported to have appeared in parts of Pakistan. Given the porous nature of the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, this was not a huge surprise, but as time went on, there was increasing suspicion in the U.S. that elements of the Afghan Taliban had support from powerful forces within Pakistan.

When in 2011 Osama bin Laden was found to be living in the middle of a prominent Pakistani town, any remaining trust between the U.S. and Pakistan was shattered. In spite of claims by Pakistani leadership that they were unaware of Bin Laden’s presence in their country, there were few believers in America. And the arrest by Pakistani authorities of the doctor who helped find Bin Laden destroyed any remaining trust between Islamabad and Washington.

Fast forward a decade, upon ascending to the U.S. presidency Joe Biden concluded staying any longer in Afghanistan was a fool›s errand. The abrupt and unsystematic departure of the US forces from Afghanistan in August 2021 presented a sad spectacle for the whole world to see. After spending 20 years in Afghanistan and with an expenditure of $2 trillion, America had little to show for their effort.

As often happens, the American public started to search for someone to blame, and Pakistan was a prime candidate. Their nation-building project had utterly failed and unraveled within weeks as the Taliban rode into Kabul, completely unimpeded. For the American public, this brought back flashes of the U.S. exit from Vietnam back in the 1970s.

In the decade leading up to the U.S. exit from Afghanistan, America›s relations with Pakistan continued to sour. Coalition support funds provided to Pakistan were slashed and the country was no longer considered a strategic non-NATO ally.

Statements made by Pakistani leadership upon the U.S. exit from Afghanistan only further damaged trust between the two countries. While the U.S. leaders and public felt it was embarked on a project in support of the Afghani people to help rid country of an evil, brutal regime, Pakistani leadership in their public pronouncements equated U.S. presence in Afghanistan as an imperial, colonial project. As if the relations could get any worse, the removal in 2022 of the duly elected PTI coalition government in Pakistan was blamed by the leadership of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) as an American conspiracy.

While the political and economic circumstances of Pakistan have continued to deteriorate rapidly over the past couple of years, both Pakistan and the U.S. have now started to look for the next steps in their bilateral relations.

Having exited Afghanistan, the U.S. doesn›t really need a partnership with Pakistan as it did over the past two decades. Pakistan, however, is in dire need of financial help to stabilize its economy. Its other ally China doesn’t appear to be able or willing to provide the much-needed economic help. For a while, it appeared as if the U.S. had washed its hands off Pakistan. America›s focus in Asia was now on countering the rise of China, and it is seen in Washington that India could play an important role as a counterweight to China.

While this leaves Pakistan with few if any cards in its relationship with the U.S., in recent months there appears to be a renewed interest in Washington in rebuilding relationship with Pakistan. After all, it is a large country of over 200 million people; it is nuclear armed, and is located in an unstable region. Even though the practical value of being a nuclear power in today›s geopolitics is somewhat questionable.

Statements coming out of the U.S. Department of State in recent months refer to the need for a stable Pakistan. Interestingly, any references to democracy in Pakistan have been mostly missing in the State Department’s comments. The U.S. appears to be re-evaluating its focus on building democracy abroad. In fact, anti-democratic moves by the Indian government are largely ignored in Washington in the interest of building alliances with important countries that support wider and long-term American objectives. In other words, we may be seeing a return in Washington to what used to be called Realpolitik.

For Pakistan, the best way forward would be to earnestly understand U.S. goals in the region and determine what role, if any, it can play to support these goals. Regardless, it may take a while to repair the U.S.-Pakistan relations on terms that are acceptable to both countries.

I am neither a statesman nor a politician, but an industrialist and social entrepreneur, serving downtrodden in health and education sectors in particular. As an industrialist and businessman, I have had the opportunity of engaging into long-lasting partnerships, which have been based on mutual respect and trust. Applying the same template to partnerships between the two countries, I have the clarity of thought in my mind that only those are bound to succeed when both of them accord equal respect to each other and both receive the benefit of this partnership.

The U.S.-Pakistan relations have been see-sawing over our 75-year history. The title “Beyond Friends and Masters” is, indeed, very thought-provoking - taking a cue from Field Marshal Ayub Khan’s “Friends not Masters”; obviously to placate the ‘friendly master’ relationship during the so-called decade of development. Subsequently, two decades of military dictatorships experienced “master-servant” relationships - the Afghan War and the War on Terror. Coincidentally, the almost 3 decades each were wasted with democratically-elected, yet weak civilian governments.

As is well known, foreign relationships are not based on friends or foes; these are based on “interests”; hence the adage: ‘there are no permanent friends, only interests’. Furthermore, there can be no EQUAL relationships between UNEQUALS.

Summing up, the fault lies in us. We must learn to stand on our own feet and protect our national interests.