There is no denying the impression that Pakistan-US relationship has always moved on an uneven and on-off trajectory. Lots of factor has played their part to widen the gulf between the two countries. US has always regarded Pakistan as a double dealing and duplicitous agent while Pakistan looked towards the US as untrustworthy. In the backdrop, instability and uncertainty in the war torn Afghanistan are the main bottlenecks that plunged the relation onto this verge. Due to which both nations have failed to build a harmonious relation.
It is a well-established fact that Pakistan has always stand shoulder to shoulder with the US in War on Terrorism but in return received the mantra of ‘Do More’. After became an independent state on the world stage it was a colossal step in Pakistan history that she opted for the USA instead of USSR. In 1954 and 1955, Pakistan became a member of SEATO (South East Asian Treaty Organization) and CENTO (Central Treaty Organization) which later dissolved. Then comes an era of Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and Pakistan had again came on the forefront to dismantle Afghanistan from the noose of Soviets.
In the 90s the relations remained looming under the clouds of anonymity due to lack of interests of the US in the region. But the incidence of 9/11 had brought a paradigm shift in the arena of world politics and Pakistan again became an blue-eyed baby and in the 2003 awarded a status of major non-NATO allied member and given birth to new era of friendship. Unfortunately, hopes raised were ephemeral and the US started accusing Pakistan as a double dealing agent. The fact is that War on Terrorism has cast havoc with the Pakistan. Ill-conceived and misdirected policies of the US have brought progress of the strife torn region in jeopardy.
Since Donald Trump has entered an oval office, he has been constantly accusing Pakistan of its failures in war ravaged country and demanding from Pakistan to ‘Do More’ with his speeches and tweets. In one of his tweets, “The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years and they have given us nothing but lies and deceits, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe heavens to the terrorists that we hunt in Afghanistan.” This approach has dealt a mortal blow to establish a cordial relation between the two. So, it can easily be noticeable that Afghanistan holds a vanguard position, and the recent ongoing Afghanistan-led Afghanistan-owned peace process has given rise to some ray of hope in which Pakistan is playing a consequential role to bring stabilization in the Afghanistan for the sake of its prosperous future.
Just at the stone throw Imran Khan will visit the US and this historic visit contains the seeds of friendship and progress. It is the real need of the hour and requires intelligent policy making from Imran Khan to showcase its interests in a best possible manner that not only serve its interests but also build a harmonious tie with the US. In this regard US stop blaming Pakistan of its failures in the Afghanistan and Khan give clear message to the US intelligentsia that Pakistan has suffered a lot in War on Terrorism. Similarly, Khan also highlight Indian atrocities inside Kashmir that India is using torture as a matter of policy and instrument of control in occupied Kashmir.
According to the report by UN office of the High Commission for Human Rights has slammed Delhi’s abhorrent use of pellet guns offering the gruesome statistics that over 1200 people have been blinded by this weapon from mid 2016 to the end of 2018. Khan also gets aware Trump that India has been continuously using Afghanistan’s soil to destabilize Pakistan. It is a well-established fact that Afghanistan has its own geography, history and culture so, all the stakeholders especially Pakistan and the US should facilitate the Afghanistan’s owned peace process to disentangle Afghanistan from the fold of bloodshed.