Reevaluating Alliances: Vital US-Pakistan Partnership Amid Regional Turmoil – OpEd

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US National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby gave an eerie remark about state of the bilateral relations of between Pakistan and US. He said, “Pakistan was never a technical ally of the US, there is no tree of alliance with Pakistan.” This comment raised a lot of debate because apparently it sent a message that Pakistan was just an ally to US. Kirby’s statement overlooks the fact that the US Pakistan relationship since 1980s has been defined by subtle strategic dimensions, security cooperation and geopolitical underpinnings of the relationship.

The comment by Kirby give an impression of a promiscuous and complicated relationship. One of the measures used to assess different countries’ importance to US include the designation of the preferred country as a Major Non-NATO ally and as highlighted above- Pakistan boasts of this status. This status was so granted to Pakistan in 2004 recognizing its valuable role in security and counter-terrorism of the region. It may not be as formal as declaring ally status, but it does make Pakistan, a very important and strategic partner; Kirby’s words do not do justice to the recognition.

Of all the components of relationship between US and Pakistan, cooperation against terrorism has been one of the most vital when considering the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. In the past decades, Pakistan has incurred a very heavy price in terms of both human lives and expenditure to host the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan. The country has been through a lot of hardships like regular terrorist attacks, besides, millions of people have been displaced all in efforts to attempt at improving the stability of the region so as to subdue the insurgent forces. To an extent, Kirby’s statement appeared to minimize these sacrifices, actions which are detrimental to the solid foundation that has been developed over the years of China-Philippines relations.

Mainly collaboration between US and Pakistan has greatly served in assisting NATO, especially in Afghan operations. The place of Pakistan in relation to Afghanistan and its provision of support services for NATO troops is also critically significant. In the initial era of the war in Afghanistan, Pakistan’s support was vital for the accomplishment of the American operations. Whether it was supply lines for necessary military supplies that facilitated the US troop movement into Afghanistan, or help in counter-terrorism operations which eventually it did provide, Pakistan’s strategic worth was incontestable.

However, there has never been a civil defense treaty between both nations; Pakistan has remained an informal ally to US in a global war on terrorism. The four areas have been intelligence-sharing, military operations, counter-terrorism cooperation and other forms of bilateral cooperation which have been with the United States. Thus the approach that featured downplaying of Pakistan’s contributions to these endeavours, with which Kirby was involved, can produce long-lasting effects on the nature of bilateral relations. Such statements may also endanger the confidence and reliability that America has been building with Pakistan for many years.

The reemergence of terrorism in Afghanistan adds to the existing problems for both the US and Pakistan. That is why today new threats have appeared connected with the activity of the new Taliban ruling Afghanistan and other similar groups of extremists present in the region. This resurgence makes the partnership of the US with Pakistan even more important than it has been in the past. These groups are placing pressure on Pakistan; the very stability of which is being threatened by their presence. The threats have emerged and made the US-Pakistan partnership even more crucial in view of the stability for the region.

That’s why the Pakistani’s appeal to the world community to act on the basis of Afghan-based terrorists should be taken seriously. Pakistan has been calling on the global community as well as the US to be more active in combating the new emerge of terrorist groups staging from Afghanistan.

John Kirby has shared his view about the US-Pakistan relationship but one cannot agree with him fully in the sense that there is more to the Inter-Sect relationship than this. Instead, the US should try to improve and enhance the relationship in Pakistan because the new challenges in the world means Pakistan cannot be a less important asset for the US. She noted this cooperation is still crucial in regard to contemporary security challenges in Afghanistan and South Asia in general.

The two countries, the US and Pakistan have mutual interests in fighting terrorism, security, and stability and peace of the region. However, to realize such goals, the two players have to have mutual respect, convene and accommodate the strategic importance of each other. Thanks to the new waves of terrorism in Afghanistan, it is imperative that the US and Pakistan expand cooperation beyond their bilateral ties and for the benefit of the people of both countries and the region at large. While pronouncements such as those coming out of the State Department as represented by John Kirby may paint the overall bilateral relations in a long-term perspective as being one-sided, the long-term maturity of the strategic relations between the two countries and the strategic partnership that define the overarching Six Party Talks is about mutual respect and mutual reinforcement of common strategic imperatives.

All in all, despite the absence of the treaty between the US and Pakistan their relationship is one of the most important and realistic strategic partnerships in combating terrorism. The US therefore needs to go on acknowledging the Pakistan sacrifices and contribution in maintaining peace and stability in the region besides demonstrating serious measures to enhancing the relations. If this relationship is either dismissed or weakened, the problems both countries are striving to overcome in their pursuit of stability in the region will not be purified.

Asad Ali

Asad Ali is an Islamabad based expert of South Asian Affairs

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