ISLAMABAD: Following the recent bilateral visits of Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and India’s S Jaishankar to Washington at the same time, a debate has been started as to whether or not the Joe Biden administration has finally begun de-hyphenating the United States relations with Pakistan and India.
To assess the importance of the high-level exchanges in New York during Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Foreign Minister Bilawal’s visit to the UN General Assembly session and the meetings on the sidelines as well as Bilawal’s bilateral meeting with his US counterpart Antony Blinken in Washington, two prominent analysts – Shamshad Ahmad, former foreign secretary and Lt Gen (retd) Asad Durrani, former DG ISI – spoke at length at Aaj News talk show: Paisa Bolta Hai with Anjum Ibrahim.
Both the noted analysts were of the opinion that despite all the problems and difficulties, Pakistan-US relations need to be stronger in a way that the relationship is between the two states and not between the two rulers or/and not the transactional type of relationship, but mutually beneficial to both countries having roots within people.
Shamshad said that the visits taking place every year to the UN General Assembly by heads of state and government for giving a 15-minute speech to the UNGA session always takes place at an empty hall unless there is some leader of global fame. Hence, having no significant impacts whatsoever on the global politics and furthering state-to-state relations, he added.
About the meetings on the sidelines, he said that these meetings are also not more than photo sessions with no substantive talk. In the UN history, he added that neither the issues between Pakistan and India were resolved nor the issue of Palestine. “This is just like a festival and thinking that the visit of our Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari gained something extraordinary from the UNGA visit. I don’t agree with this,” he added.
About the perception that the US has started balancing its relations with Pakistan and India, the former foreign secretary recalled that in 2005, the US went on de-hyphenating its ties with Pakistan and India.
The only problem is that the US builds its relations with India at the cost of Pakistan and when Pakistan points it out, the Americans say that India is a different country and you should not have any problem with it, he continued.
He pointed out that when former US president George W Bush visited India in March 2006 and struck a major defence deal with the then Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and later he arrived in Islamabad for a few hours for snapping a photograph with then President Gen Musharraf.
He added that when President Bush was asked that he had struck a major defence deal with India, including grant of the waiver for getting the membership of Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), he recalled that President Bush stated that Pakistan is a different country.
“So, the de-hyphenation started at that time and Pakistan was told in clear terms that you should never present yourself with India, as you’re a different country with a different history, contrary to the fact that we have the same history. In fact, Bush’s knowledge is weak to the level that he’s not even aware that Pakistan and India share the same history, culture, and traditions,” the former foreign secretary stated.
After President Bush, he added, his successor President Barack Obama linked Pakistan with Afghanistan under his “AfPak” policy. “Now as it is being said that we are being de-hyphenated, it is neither to be proud of nor it’s a matter of satisfaction, because we are now leading towards another problem that we have sat down with folded hands at the feet of the US and we would obey whatever orders the “Sarkar” gives us. So, if anyone thinks that this kind of de-hyphenation is a good development, I think this is not correct thinking,” he stated, adding that the previous government had chosen a different path of an “independent foreign policy and it could have been better if we followed on that by taking decisions based on our own national interests.”
The former foreign secretary stated that the hyphenation has not ended, adding, it is not the US which creates the ground realities but the geography. He said that Pakistan’s geographical position would remain crucial for the US in any situation. “That’s why we have been in “the US grasp” since our independence. The hyphenation will continue,” he opined.
He added that to the Bush’s policy, China countered it very well, as whenever the top Chinese leadership used to travel to Pakistan they also kept visiting India and vice versa. “China has given a clear message to the US and the world that India and Pakistan, although are two independent states, when we look into their problems, they cannot be de-hyphenated,” he added.
According to him, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is also one of the major factors. However, he added that there has never been mutuality of interest in Pak-US relationship. This is the major flaw that there was always conflict of interest, but no mutuality of interest, he added. Second, he added that in the US pursuit of a larger and global interest, Pakistan’s interest has always gone in the background in this relationship.
“Give me examples as to how many roads, universities, hospitals, colleges, and dams have been constructed by the US for the people of Pakistan in the last 75 years,” he asked.
Contrary to that, he added that all the Chinese projects although were never “ruler-specific” while all the US policies were “ruler-specific”, whether it was Gen Ayub, Gen Zia or Gen Musharraf. On the other hand, he added that Chinese projects are people-specific. “With regard to China, historically the US has given a very tough time to Pakistan,” he added.
He further said that Pakistan could play a very positive role in the current scenario, adding that China has always advised Pakistan to keep a good relation with the US. “Even during Kargil war, China told Pakistan that you have done wrong and advised us to withdraw our troops. But unfortunately, the other side [the US] has no concern as to what is Pakistan’s interest, as it only thinks about its own interest,” he added.
“The extent of [reliance] is that our Army has completely become dependent on the US,” he further added.
To a question, he said that it was unfortunate that we have kept the foreign aids and loans as our lifeline, which is a liability, full of conditionalities.
Despite all the problems in Pak-US relationship, the former foreign secretary stressed that there is a need to maintain it stronger in a way that these relations are between the two states and not between the two rulers or the transactional type of relationship but mutually beneficial to both countries having roots within people.
Former DG-ISI Lt Gen Asad Durrani (retd) said that countries’ relations do not improve with putting or erasing the “hyphen”. He pointed that as blocs have been created such as China, Russia, Iran, Central Asia, Afghanistan and Turkey, while on the other hand, the US-led India, Japan and Australia, will have an impact on Pakistan’s relations with the major powers.
According to him, the objective to reset the Pak-US relation is how to break the anti-US bloc, adding that Iran was imposed sanctions and Russia was plunged in the war with Ukraine.
He said that Pakistan’s relevance to the US is mainly because of Afghanistan, India or Pakistan’s relations with China and the Central Asian States.
“Although, the US is opposing the CPEC, yet we have to see that whenever Pakistan undertook major decisions contrary to the US wishes, we have always gained success,” he added. He pointed out that Pakistan’s relations with China in 60s were against the wishes of the US, adding that Pakistan had to face immense pressure from the US at the time of nuclear tests, and even on Iran issue, Pakistan had come up with a bold policy after the Iranian revolution.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022