Pakistan US Relations: An Interpretation
Almost one year after US President Bill Clinton's short stopover in Islamabad, there seems to be no interlude in the US campaign for restoration of democracy in Pakistan, the demand for ban on the so called Islamic militant movements allegedly carrying out terrorism in the Indian held Kashmir, facilitating the extradition of Osama bin Laden (indicted by a US court for bomb attacks in US embassies in East Africa) and a respect for the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir. A failure on part of Pakistan to comply with these demands could mean an abrupt cut off in aid supplies from the leading financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. If President Clinton's visit dealt a serious blow to the expectations that many Pakistanis entertained that the US still had some regard for its former ally in South Asia, the recent events like the exile of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan's decision to unilaterally withdraw some of its troops along LoC in Kashmir raised suspicions that Islamabad was caving in under Washington's pressure. Recently there have been indications that US India relationship is assuming a strategic and military dimension which could pose security problems for Pakistan. The scenario described above could be regarded as the logical outcome of an"unequal relationship" that has developed between Pakistan and the United States over the last 53 years. The relationship stemmed from Pakistan's limitations in foreign policy manoeuvers in the initial years of country's independence and the United States policy of exploiting Pakistan's limited options to its Own advantage. What followed in the process was an attempt on part of Pakistan to adjust its national interests to the US priorities in the global arena. The adjustment effort did not lay the foundations of a relationship based on equality and reciprocity, it rather resulted in a partnership between a strong and weak nation. The agreements that Pakistan entered with the US in mid and late 50s