Introduction
Pakistan was founded on 14 August, 1947 along with India when the two
nations achieved independence from the British Colonial Empire. The
partition of the sub continent along ethnic religious lines with
Pakistan created in those adjoining territories that had majority Muslim
populations. Thus the country of Pakistan with seventy million people
had above 90% Muslim population. On the other hand, India had a majority
Hindu population but Muslims were also a sizeable second minority group
comprising 15% of the Indian population. The regions comprising
Pakistan included the provinces of Sind, Punjab, Baluchistan and
Northwest Frontier Province on the western side of India and the
province of East Bengal in the east of India. The two wings of eastern
and western Pakistan were separated by a thousand miles of Indian
territories. India inherited most of the infrastructure from the
colonial establishment and Pakistan received some share out of assets.
However, the regions comprising the land of Pakistan were less developed
as compared to India and the administrative infrastructure was also
limited. Both countries gained some military assets left over after the
end of the World War Two. The main
challenges that Pakistan faced at the time of its independence were
related to its security fears, lack of infrastructure in the country and
limited financial resources. The creation of two separate states and
the division of the countries over ethno-religious lines had create a
large migration across the two countries accompanied by ethnic
cleansing, rioting and looting. The partition of the sub continent had
been a contentious debacle and India and Pakistan had disputed division
of assets as well as territories of the two countries. The state of
Kashmir was a major cause of dispute as both India and Pakistan made
claims for the state. The dispute led to a limited war in 1948 that
resulted in one third of the Kashmir state occupied by Pakistan and the
other two thirds overtaken by India.
Although Pakistan's foreign policy has been dominated by problems with
India as well as by efforts to maximize its own external support, its
relationship with the West, particularly Britain and the United States,
was of major importance. At independence in 1947, Pakistan became a
member of the British Commonwealth of Nations.
After Pakistan's independence by the partitioning of the British Raj,
Pakistan followed a prowestern policy. The Indian government followed a
different, non-aligned policy stance, which leaned closer to the Soviet
Union rather than the United States of America. Pakistan was seeking
strong alliances to counter its neighbour, India. At this time, India
was neutral and went on to be a part of Non Aligned Movement. The first
government of Pakistan was headed by Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan and
it chose the seaport of Karachi as its capital. Jinnah, considered the
founder of Pakistan and hailed as the Quaid-i-Azam (Great Leader),
became head of state as governor-general. The government faced many
challenges in setting up new economic, judicial,and political
structures. It endeavored to organize the bureaucracy and the armed
forces, resettle the Mohajirs (Muslim refugees from India), and
establish the distribution and balance of power in the provincial and
central governments. Undermining these efforts were provincial
politicians who often defied the authority of the central government,
and frequent communal riots. Before the government could surmount these
difficulties, Jinnah died in September 1948.
In foreign policy, Liaquat established friendly relations with the
United States when he visited President Harry S. Truman in 1950.
Pakistan’s early foreign policy was one of nonalignment, with no formal
commitment to either the United States or the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics (USSR), the two major adversaries in the Cold War. In 1953,
however, Pakistan aligned itself with the United States and accepted
military and economic assistance.Pakistan's relations with the United
States developed against the backdrop of the Cold War.
Pakistan's strategic geographic position made it a valuable partner in
Western alliance systems to contain the spread of communism. In 1954
Pakistan signed a Mutual Defense Agreement with the United States and
subsequently became a member of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
(SEATO) and CENTO. These agreements placed Pakistan in the United States
sphere of influence. Pakistan was also used as a base for United States
military reconnaissance flights over Soviet territory. During the Cold
War years, Pakistan was considered one of Washington's
closest allies in Asia. Pakistan, in return, received large amounts of
economic and military assistance. The program of military assistance
continued until the 1965 Indo-Pakistani War when President Lyndon B.
Johnson placed an embargo on arms shipments to Pakistan and India. The
United States embargo on arms shipments to Pakistan remained in place
during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and was not lifted until 1975,
during the administration of President Gerald R. Ford.
The initial years 1947 -1952
After the creation of the two countries, Pakistan followed a more pro
western policy whereas the Indian government defined its foreign policy
with a more leftist to non aligned stance. Pakistan was looking for
strong friends in order to persuade its bigger and much stronger
neighbor India to give in to its claims over the territory of Kashmir.
Pakistan also needed financial support for its infrastructure
development and modernization of its armed forces. Right from the
beginning the founder father of Pakistan sent its representative to the
US government for financial and
military assistance. Pakistan based its case on the post World War
scenario of confrontation between the Soviet Union and the West.
Pakistan contented that the Soviet Union wanted to get access to the
Arabian Sea and to increase its influence in the Middle East. Pakistan
was a nation beyond Afghanistan that could avert such Soviet designs.
Pakistan as a Muslim state had no affiliations with the communists and
was a natural regional ally for the United States.On theother hand, the
ruling party in India, the Indian National Congress, and India’s leaders
were closer in ideology to socialism and the Soviet Union.
As a US ally in the region, Pakistan could provide a foot hold for the
US in the region against any Soviet expansionist efforts in South
Asia.From the US perspective, the United States was more occupied in the
post war reconstruction in
Western Europe and Japan, its containment efforts in South East Asia and
the Middle East. The United States in the initial years of Pakistan was
less interested in getting involved in the emerging conflicts of South
Asia. The Pakistanis wanted to strengthen their relations with the US so
as to get an advantage in their confrontation with India over Kashmir.
On the other hand, the US did not see the usefulness of a strong
relationship with Pakistan and US interests in Pakistan were limited.
The Kashmir dispute dragged on despite UN Security Council resolutions
that were agree upon by both Pakistan and India in 1949 for a ceasefire
and proposal for a plebiscite. The Kashmir issue remained unresolved and
became the main bone of contention between India and Pakistan resulting
in three subsequent wars.
The evolving relations & Ayub Era 1952-1969
Prospects for Pakistan’s relations with US improved after Republican
Eisenhower came to power in 1952 in the White House. Pakistan pushed its
case as an ally that could provide support for Middle East security and
in return it asked for military and economic support for its flail
economy. Unstable domestic politics had led to political and economic
distress while the bureaucratic and military officers were getting
stronger in the country. The Republican government was more receptive of
the Pakistani position and its claims of anti communist stand and an
available allied state. Pakistan joined with Turkey as member of the
Middle East Defense
Organization (MEDO) in 1954. This allowed Pakistan to formally seek aid
as a regional ally of the US. In January 1955, Pakistan joined South
East Asian Treaty Organization (SEATO) with a view to adding security to
the East Asian flank of anti communist alignment. However, it was not
clear how Pakistan’s role in both these organizations would actually
materialize in the case of an actual conflict. However, for the
Pakistanis, becoming part of these alliances allowed the country to
create stronger links with the US administration and seek increasing
aid.
In September 1955, Pakistan became a member of the Baghdad Pact
organization which later became known as CENTO. Turkey, Iran and Iraq
were its earlier members with the US as the backer of the security
arrangement. The role of this organization was similar to the earlier
MEDO as a northern-tier defense arrangement against communist influence
in the Middle East.
"In the end, neither the Baghdad Pact not SEATO amounted to much
militarily. …Joining the Baghdad Pact and SEATO gave Pakistan a
strengthened claim on US resources and, in turn, the US acquired an even
larger stake in Pakistan’s well being. As Pakistan’s president Ayub
Khan put it in his biography, “Friends Not Masters”, Pakistan had become
America’s “most allied ally in Asia”" (Reference 1).
A key development from Pakistan’s perspective was the amount of
development and military aid that started in 1954 and increased to $500
million by 1957 as a result of Pakistan’s joining the regional defense
organizations and allying with the USA. During the second Eisenhower
term, the relations between the two countries became even stronger.
Pakistan’s Army Chief staged a military coup in 1958 and later became
the President of Pakistan. Field Marshal Ayub Khan had developed strong
relations with the Americans and his era from 1958 to 1969 turned out to
a
strong era of US- Pakistan relations. In 1959, Aub’s government allowed
the US to set up an intelligence facility in Badaber, NWFFP province and
operate U2 surveillance flights over the Soviet Union from its Peshawar
Airport. This arrangement and the closer relationship of the Pakistani
government with the US administration allowed it to acquire increasing
military hardware and arms for its defense services. The issue troubling
the US was Pakistan’s closer relations with China. The Indians and
Chinese had fought a war in 1962 in which China had given India a bloody
nose. As a result Pakistan moved to improve and strengthen its
relations with China in order to position itself as a stronger foe for
India. However, Pakistan’s growing friendship with communist China irked
the US who was facing a proxy war against the communists in Vietnam.
Pakistan and India fought a war in 1965 that was an ill fated affair
started by a limited guerilla war in Kashmir that Ayub started in order
to pressurize India to come to the negotiating table over Kashmir.
However, as the war spread, Pakistan could not sustain a long term
conflict and asked for a truce and both forces moved back to their
previous borders.
Creation of Bangladesh 1969 – 1972
Army Chief General Yahya took over power from President Ayub Khan in
March 1969. The country had been in a pseudo military rule since 1958.
Political representation had been insufficient and regional succession
movements were strengthening in the country especially in the eastern
Pakistan province of Bengal. Elections were held in the country in 1970
with the East Pakistani party Awami League taking a majority in the
elections. The military government did not hand over power to the
winning party and in a political deadlock, unleashed a crackdown
against the East Pakistan population. This led to a limited civil war in
1971 and India siding with the dissidents launched a war in December
1971. After a fortnight of fighting, the Pakistani forces in East
Pakistan accepted default and the state of Bangladesh was established.
The US Policy in this debacle was aligned with the military
establishment of Pakistan due to its earlier links and defense
relationships .
On the other hand, President Nixon used the Pakistani links with China
to start a secret diplomacy with China which culminated with Henry
Kessinger’s secret visit to China in July 1971 while he was visiting
Pakistan . The Chinese relationship was vital for the US as it was
trying to fix the mess in its Vietnam policy. With these concerns, the
US administration neglected the internal domestic issues of Pakistan and
allowed the dictator to have its way in East Pakistan. "The opening to
China was an essential element in Nixon’s strategy of creating a new
global balance of power. His aim was to bring China into the family of
nations – reversing two decades of US efforts to isolate Beijing – and
to use an improved US-Chinese
relationship as a lever with Moscow to press for US-Soviet Union.
Rather than focusing on their domestic problems and working effectively
to find solutions, the military rulers in Pakistan had been focusing in
international affairs and the Great Game and considered the close
relationship with the US as a guarantee for their own domestic
survival.However, this proved to be a false notion and Pakistani
military lost big time in the war with India in 1971. Over 90,000
soldiers were taken as prisoners of war by India and East Pakistan
declared its independence. With this large defeat, the military finally
gave in and handed over
power in the remaining country of West Pakistan to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto,
who took over as the first elected Prime Minister of the country.
President Richard Nixon used Pakistan's relationship with China to start
secret contacts with China which resulted with Henry Kissinger’s secret
visit to China in July 1971 while visiting Pakistan. America supported
Pakistan throughout the war and supplied weapons to West Pakistan
although Congress had passed a bill suspending exporting weapons to the
nation. Near the end of the war and fearing Pakistan's defeat by the
joint forces of Mukti Bahini and Indian forces, Nixon ordered the USS
Enterprise into the Indian Ocean, although it was never used for
actual combat. United States-Pakistani relations preceding the 1971 war
were characterized by poor communication and much confusion. The
administration of President Richard M. Nixon was forced to formulate a
public stance on the brutal crackdown on East Pakistanis by West
Pakistani troops that began in March 25, 1971, and it maintained that
the crackdown was essentially an internal affair of Pakistan in which
direct intervention of outside powers was to be avoided. The Nixon
administration expressed its concern about human rights violations to
Pakistan and restricted the flow of assistance--yet it stopped short of an open condemnation.
Despite the United States widely publicized "tilt" toward Pakistan
during the 1971 war,Pakistan's new leader, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, felt
betrayed. In his opinion, the United States could have prevented India
from intervening in Pakistan's civil war, thereby saving his country the
trauma of defeat and dismemberment. Bhutto now strove to lessen
Pakistan's dependence on the United States.
The foreign policy Bhutto envisioned would place Pakistan at the
forefront of Islamic nations.Issues central to the developing world
would take precedence in foreign affairs over those of the superpowers.
Bhutto called this policy "bilateralism," which implied neutrality in
the Cold War with equal treatment accorded both superpowers. Bhutto's
distancing of Islamabad from Washington and other Western links was
accompanied by Pakistan's renewed bid for leadership in the developing
world.
General Zia initially promised elections but later firmed his grip on
the government and started a murder trial against Bhutto which
eventually led to Bhutto’s hanging for the alleged crime in 1979.
Bhutto Years 1972 – 1977
Prime Minister Bhutto initially focused his attention with normalizing
the domestic situation in the country. The Government of Pakistan signed
a truce with India, recognized the government of Bangladesh and
eventually the 90,000 prisoners were returned by India. The major
challenge for the new government came in May, 1974 when India executed
an underground nuclear test.This forced the Pakistanis to also seek a
nuclear weapons program to match India’s capabilities.This became a
major cause for concern for the US administration. Pakistan started
efforts to
acquire a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant from France and a heavy water
facility from West Germany. During Bhutto’s government Pakistan’s
foreign policy was aligned to see ka balance between its relations with
China, Russia and the USA. Pakistan placed a special emphasis on its
relations with the Arab countries in the Middle East.During Ford and
later Jimmy Carter’s administration, sanctions were placed on Pakistan
related to export control and restriction of aid grants. Prime Minister
Bhutto called elections in March 1977 from which he gained a landslide
victory. However, the opposition blamed it on massive rigging and
started a public campaign to oust Bhutto. Prime Minister Bhutto claimed
in public rhetoric that the American were behind the opposition movement
and wanted to punish his government for its nuclear weapons program and
alignment with the Arabs. In July 1977, the Army seized power in a coup
for the third time in the country.
Zia Years 1977 – 1988
After hanging the former Prime Minister, Zia strengthened his hold on
the government and used a cover of Islamic reforms to give credibility
to his government. Jimmy Carter’s administration developed closer
relations with India while Pakistan was more or less isolated due to its
new military dictators. On the nuclear front, General Zia continued the
previous policy of Bhutto in acquiring and developing capabilities for
nuclear weapons. The chilling relations between the US
and Pakistan took another a U-turn when the Soviet Army entered
neighboring Afghanistan in December 1979 to support the local communist
government. "Just four days after the Soviet invasion, On December 29,
1979, Jimmy Carter approved a broader covert action program that
instructed the CIA to provide military weapons and ammunition …for the
Afghan anticommunist fighters, who soon became widely known as
“mujahideen”…At Pakistan’s insistence, the CIA funneled all aid through
the Pakistani intelligence service ISI, which in turn handed over
supplies to Afghans." (Reference 1).
With the Reagan Administration in the White House, the support for
the covert war in Afghanistan increased along with the value of the
Pakistani cooperation.Pakistan was rewarded with a $3.2 billion aid
package for the next six years. As the Afghan war progressed more than
three million refugees entered Pakistan.During this period, Pakistan was
considered a valuable ally and the US ignored the increasing
developments on the nuclear front as well as the human rights abuses by
the Zia regime. The success of the Afghan war effort was crucial for the
American Administration as it was bled the Soviet Government and placed
huge pressure in terms of resources. Fed up with the costs of the war
and covert operations by the mujahideen, supported by the CIA and the
Pakistani ISI, by
1988, the Russians had had enough and were ready for a respectable
evacuation from Afghanistan. The usefulness of Pakistan for the USA with
respect to Afghanistan, thus, ended when Mikhail Gorbachev agreed to a
retreat in April 1988. General Zia died in a mysterious plane crash
months later in August 1988 and political elections were held in
Pakistan.
In 1979, a group of Pakistani students burned the American embassy in Islamabad to the ground killing two Americans.
In the 1980s, Pakistan agreed to pay $658 million for 28 F-16 fighter
jets from the United States;however the American congress froze the deal
citing objections to Pakistani nuclear ambitions.Under the terms of the
American cancellation, they kept both the money and the planes,
leadingto angry claims of theft by Pakistanis.
In 1979, Pakistani students, enraged by a radio report claiming that the
United States had bombed the Masjid al-Haram, Islam's holy site at
Mecca, stormed the U.S. embassy in Islamabad, and burned it to the
groun. There actually had been a terrorist attack there, but the U.S.
was not involved. The diplomats survived by hiding in a reinforced area,
though Marine Security Guard Steve Crowley and another American were
killed in the attack.
The event started as a small, peaceful protest against U.S. policies in
Cambodia, as well as suspected U.S. involvement surrounding the military
coup d'état of Zulfiqar Bhutto in 1977. The protesters shouted
anti-American slogans. Although, at first glance it seemed to be a small
protest outside the embassy’s walls, buses later started pulling up
filled with far-right Jamaat-i- Islami supporters in front of the main
gates. Hundreds of people began climbing over the walls and trying to
pull them down using ropes. According to an American investigation,
after a bullet was fired at the gate’s lock by one rioter ricocheted and
struck protesters, the protestors opened fire believing that an
American marine on the roof of the embassy had fired first. Who actually
fired first cannot be confirmed one way or another. Twenty-year-old
Marine Stephen Crowley was struck by a bullet and transported to the
embassy’s secure communication vault along with the rest of personnel
serving in the embassy. Locked behind steel-reinforced doors the
Americans waited for help to come and rescue them from a smoke-filled
building.
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979 highlighted the
common interest of Pakistan and the United States in peace and stability
in South Asia. In 1981, Pakistan and the United States agreed on a $3.2
billion military and economic assistance program aimed at helping
Pakistan deal with the heightened threat to security in the region and
its economic development needs. With U.S. assistance – in the largest
covert operation in history – Pakistan armed and supplied anti-Soviet
fighters in Afghanistan, eventually defeating the Soviets, who
withdrew in 1988.
Unstable democratic governments 1988 – 1998
After the 1988 elections, Benazir Bhutto, the daughter of former Prime
Minister Bhutto, came into power. Until 1990, the $600 million military
and economic aid that had started after the Afghan War effort by the US
had continued. However, every year, the US president had to certify
under the Pressler Amendment, enacted in 1984, that Pakistan did not
posses a nuclear device. "After October 1, 1990, passed without
certification, the $564 million economic and military aid program
approved for fiscal year 1991 was frozen. At the time, Pakistan was the
third-highest recipient of US aid; only Israel and Egypt received more
assistance" (Refrence 1) .
At this point the main occupation of the Pakistan government was to try
to create a friendly mujahideen regime in Afghanistan, continue to
develop its nuclear and missile program and support the militant
insurgency in Kashmir. Since the US and Pakistani interests had diverted
at this point, with the Soviets retreating from Afghanistan and the US
involved in the Middle East, the Pakistanis felt isolated by their “old
friend” and “ally”.
Domestic politics, once again, became unstable and four successive
governments in Pakistan were dissolved one after another in a matter of
11 years with the Army, as always, the main power broker among the
political stalwarts. Benazir held the Prime Minister’s office twice from
1988-1990 and from 1993-1996. Her main opponent, Nawaz Sharif, held
office from 1990-1993 and 1996-1999. Gross fiscal mismanagement,
political instability and US sanctions created large fiscal deficits and
the governments borrowed heavily from international lenders. The
Clinton
Administration had a tilt towards the more democratic Indian government
during this time. The Pakistanis contented that the Pressler Amendment
was specific to Pakistan and the sanctions were unjustified. Additional
sanctions were placed after Pakistan acquired M11 missiles and delivery
systems technology from China which violated the MTCR regime. By 1996
Pakistan’s Afghan efforts were bringing some success and the ISI backed
Taliban government was established in Afghanistan.
The US administration initially welcome the prospects of peace in the
country but later opposed the Taliban regime based on their extreme
fundamentalist views and gross violations of human rights. A new turn of
events unfolded in May 1998 when the new Indian government tested
several nuclear devices. The Clinton Administration put a lot of
pressure on the Pakistani government to refrain from tit for tat nuclear
tests. However, Pakistan government came under intense internal
pressure and detonated their nuclear devices two weeks later. Although a
new nuclear deterrent had been established between India and Pakistan,
another wave of international sanctions followed from the international
community. This put further pressure on the already weak political
economy of Pakistan.
The US had a new interest in Afghanistan by mid 1998 after the terrorist
attacks on US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania which killed two hundred
people and were carried on by an organization belonging to Osama Bin
Ladin, a former Saudi national living in Afghanistan. The US
administration wanted Pakistan to use its influence on the Taliban to
make them handover the culprit over to the US. However, the Taliban
refused and new animosity started in the region.
In early 1999, Pakistan had a spate of diplomatic discussion to improve
their relations with India but by mid 1999, a limited war had erupted in
Kargil between the two countries which had been covertly engineered by
the Pakistani Army. As India increased pressure and an escalating war
scenario emerged, the US intervened on the request of Pakistan and the
armies retreated to their pre war positions. The main casualty in the
war turned out to the Pakistani Premier Nawaz Sharif who tried to oust
the military commander but a military executed a coup and the military
came
into power for the fourth time led by General Musharraf.The stage was
set for a very tumultuous situation; the 1990s was an era of intense
upheaval in Pakistan. Pakistan found itself in a state of extremely high
insecurity as tensions mounted with
India and Afghanistan’s infighting continued. Pakistan’s alliance with
the U.S was strained due to factors such as its support for the Taliban
and public distancing of the Pakistani government from the U.S.
Musharraf – 9/11 and beyond – partners in the fight against Terrorism
General Musharraf took power at a time when the economic situation of
the country was in deep trouble. The rupee was sliding, foreign reserves
had been depleted and rampant corruption had messed up the
infrastructure of the country. By year 2000, Pakistan after more than 53
years of independence was still struggling to find a stable political
system and an economic infrastructure that would generate sustainable
development and improve the quality of life for its people. From the
United States perspective, Pakistan was moving closer to a “failed
state” case and it’s nuclear and missile programs were a constant
concern for policy makers in Washington. A failing economy could easily
lead to another coup backed by the Islamists and the country could fall
in fundamentalist hands along with its arsenal of nuclear weapons. With
this scenario in view, the US administration more or less supported the
Musharraf regime.
9/11 changed the nature of US – Pakistan relations once again.
Terrorists supported by Osam Bin Ladin’s organization had executed
successful attacks in New York and Washington in September 2001. The US
President George Bush asked the world to make a clear choice to side
with the US with the slogan “you are with us or against us”. President
Musharraf’s regime, which was previously a supporter and backer of the
Taliban regime since its inception, made a U-turn and
sided with the US in its war against terrorism. Siding with the US,
Musharraf betted that the decision would result in improving foreign aid
and support from World Bank and IMF on the one hand and US support for
Pakistan’s cause for Kashmir on the other.
After the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States of America,
Pakistan became a key ally in the war on terror with the United States.
However, US$5 billion earmarked to train the Pakistani army in counter
terrorism were instead spent on unrelated military purposes. On November
6th, 2001, US President George W. Bush declared his policy: "You are
either with us or against us". President Musharraf later claimed that
the U.S. had made a so-called threat to bomb Pakistan "back to the Stone
Age" after the September 11 attacks, if Pakistan refused to aid and
help America with its war on terrorism.[4]Pervez Musharraf acknowledges
the payments in his book:
We've captured 689 and handed over 369 to the United States. We've earned bounties totaling millions of dollars
—Former President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf
On 11th June, 2008, a US airstrike on the Afghan-Pakistani border killed
10 members of the paramilitary Frontier Corps. The Pakistani military
condemned the airstrike as an act of aggression, souring the relations
between the two countries.[5]
In the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, the United States informed Pakistan
that it expected full cooperation in the hunt for the plotters of the
attacks.
In the last two years, Pakistan has helped the US capture several
hundred operatives of the Al- Qiada organization and has allowed the US
to execute military operations from its land, air and sea bases. In
return for its cooperation, there has been some economic revival of the
Pakistani economy. On the Kashmir front, however, not much progress has
been made since India has projected Pakistan as a supported of terrorism
in Kashmir itself, a label vehemently denied by the Pakistanis.
Present relations
Relations between Pakistan and the United States have been cooling
recently after the visit of Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari to the
United States of America.
U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Anne W. Patterson addressed senior
bureaucrats at the National Management College and emphasized that the
United States will assist Pakistan’s new democratic government in the
areas of development, stability, and security. The United States Agency
for International Development (USAID) and the United Nations World Food
Program,in Pakistan, officially announced the signing of an agreement
valued at $8.4 million to help ease Pakistan's food crisis.[6] With
relations between Pakistan and the United States cooling down, it is
expected that Pakistan and the United States could return to being
allies again not only in the
War on Terror but also in other possible threats to regional and world
peace. It is also hoped by the United States that Pakistan under the
administration of Asif Ali Zardari would only strengthen relations
between Pakistan and the United States.
The CIA believes Osama Bin Laden to be hiding in Pakistan.On September
14, 2009, former president of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, admitted that
US Foreign Aid to Pakistan (which is substantial) was diverted by the
country from it's original
purpose to fighting the Taliban, to prepare for war against neighboring
India. The United States government has responded by stating that they
will take these allegations seriously.
Military pacts and suspension of aid
There have been six instances during the last 63 years since 1954, when
the US military aid to Pakistan was suspended by Washington under one
pretext or the other, though strings were attached nearly every other
time Islamabad found funding parked under this head in its coffers.
Though the US was one of the first countries to recognize Pakistan as an
independent state in 1947, it took Washington some seven years to dish
out its first military assistance to Islamabad during the Dwight
Eisenhower regime. On May 19, 1954, the ‘Mutual Defence Assistance
Agreement’ between the two nations was inked in Karachi.
This pact was helped vastly by the refusal of Pakistan’s first prime
minister Liaquat Ali Khan to visit Moscow in 1950. Liaquat Ali Khan had
toured the US instead to the sheer delight of the Americans, resulting
in the arrival of nearly $700 million military aid to Pakistan between
1954 and 1964. The military aid was dished out in addition to the $2.5
billion given to Pakistan as economic aid.
Hence, if the widely-expected curbs are imposed on the forthcoming $680
million US military aid to Islamabad, this would not be anything new for
the Pakistan Army equipped today with not fewer than 66 Infantry
Brigades, 15 Armoured Brigades, 30 Artillery Brigades, eight Air Defence
Brigades and 17 Army Aviation Squadrons organised under 19 Division
Headquarters and 9 Corps Headquarters, making it the world’s 8th largest
armed force.
Here follows the chronology of six US military aid suspensions:
1) The first time when the US suspended its military aid to
Pakistan was during the 1965 Pak-India War. Even though the United
States suspended military assistance to both the neighbours at daggers
drawn with each other, the suspension of aid affected Pakistan much more
adversely.
Gradually, relations improved and arms sales to Pakistan were renewed in
1975. It is noteworthy that between 1954-1965, Pakistan had managed to
receive $50 million in military grants, $19 million in defence support
assistance and $5 million in cash or commercial purchases.
2) During the 1971 Pakistan-India War, the US again suspended its
military aid to Pakistan, the second time in just six years. In 1972,
US President Nixon visited China for the first time,marking the
beginning of a process of normalisation of the estranged Sino-American
relations.Since the historic visit was facilitated by Pakistan, the US
resumed limited financial aid to Pakistan as a ‘reward.’
3) In April 1979, the United States cut off its military
assistance to Pakistan, except food assistance, as required under the
Symington Amendment. This time the suspension resulted due to
Washington’s concerns about Pakistan’s nuclear programme. It is
pertinent to note that during this period, Pakistan had managed to
construct a uranium enrichment facility.
In December 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. The US offered
$400 million worth of military aid, which was however rejected by
Pakistan as inadequate. In 1981, the US again offered a package of
military aid worth $1.5 billion, which was accepted. During the five
years that followed after the influx of this aid, the US provided 40
F-16 fighters, 100 M-48 tanks, 64M-109 155 mm SP howitzers, 40 M-110
203mm SP howitzers, 75 towed howitzers and 1,005TOW anti-tank missile
system, all of which enhanced Pakistan’s defence capability
substantially.
The aid rose from around $60 million in economic and development
assistance in 1979 to more than $600 million a year in the mid-1980s. In
total, the United States gave $2.19 billion in military assistance from
1980 till 1990. The military aid was in addition to the $3.1 billion
economic assistance for Pakistan.
4) As soon as the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan in 1990, US
military aid was again suspended under the provisions of the Pressler
Amendment. The US imposed curbs on all economic and military aid to
Pakistan. The Larry Pressler-proposed Amendment required the then US
president to certify to the Congress that Pakistan did not possess
nuclear weapons.
However, in 1995, the Brown Amendment authorized a one-time delivery of
US military equipment worth $368 million. However, no fewer than 28 F-16
aircraft costing $658 million were not delivered to Pakistan, despite
the fact that Islamabad had paid for them well in advance.
5) The Pak-US relations underwent a severe blow with Pakistan’s
nuclear tests and the ensuing sanctions in 1998. A presidential visit
scheduled for the first quarter of 1998 was postponed and, under the
Glenn Amendment, sanctions restricted the provision of credits, military
sales,economic assistance and loans to Pakistan.
6) The ouster of premier Nawaz Sharif in 1999 in a military coup
led by General Pervez Musharraf gave the US government another reason to
invoke fresh sanctions under Section 508 of the Foreign Appropriations
Act, which included restrictions on foreign military financing and
economic assistance. The assistance was thus restricted to refugee and
counter-narcotics assistance only. Aid to Pakistan dropped dramatically
from 1991 to 2000 to a paltry $429 million
in economic funding and $5.2 million in military assistance.
Pakistan's partnership in the Baghdad Pact, CENTO and SEATO strengthened
relations between the two nations. At the time, its relationship with
the U.S. was so close and friendly that it was called the United States'
"most-allied ally" in Asia. The U.S. suspension of military assistance
during the 1965 Pakistan-India war generated a widespread feeling in
Pakistan that the United States was not a reliable ally. Even though the
United States suspended military assistance to
both countries involved in the conflict, the suspension of aid affected
Pakistan much more severely. Gradually, relations improved and arms
sales were renewed in 1975. Then, in April 1979, the United States cut
off economic assistance to Pakistan, except food assistance, as required
under the Symington Amendment to the U.S. Foreign Assistance Act of
1961, due to concerns about Pakistan's nuclear program.
Nuclear weapons
Recognizing national security concerns and accepting Pakistan's
assurances that it did not intend to construct a nuclear weapon,
Congress waived restrictions (Symington Amendment) on military
assistance to Pakistan. In March 1986, the two countries agreed on a
second multi-year(FY 1988–93) $4-billion economic development and
security assistance program. On October 1,1990, however, the United
States suspended all military assistance and new economic aid to
Pakistan under the Pressler Amendment, which required that the President
certify annually that Pakistan "does not possess a nuclear explosive
device."
India's decision to conduct nuclear tests in May 1998 and Pakistan's
matching response set back U.S. relations in the region, which had seen
renewed U.S. Government interest during the second Clinton
Administration. A presidential visit scheduled for the first quarter of
1998 was postponed and, under the Glenn Amendment, sanctions restricted
the provision of credits, military sales,economic assistance, and loans
to the government. An intensive dialogue on nuclear
nonproliferation and security issues between Foreign Secretary Shamshad
Ahmad and Deputy Secretary Talbott was initiated, with discussions
focusing on CTBT signature and ratification,FMCT negotiations, export
controls, and a nuclear restraint regime. The October 1999 overthrow of
the democratically elected Sharif government triggered an additional
layer of sanctions under Section 508 of the Foreign Appropriations Act
which include restrictions on foreign military financing and economic
assistance. U.S. Government assistance to Pakistan was limited mainly to
refugee and counter-narcotics assistance.
Alliance with United States
Prior to 9/11, Pakistan, along with Saudi Arabia, was a key supporter of
the Taliban in Afghanistan, as part of their "strategic depth"
objective vis-a-vis India, and to try to bring stability to Afghanistan
after years of civil war following the Soviet withdrawal. The
Taliban,being primarily Sunni and Pushtun, are of the same ethnic origin
as Pakistanis on the other side of the Afghan border and were natural
allies.
After 9/11, Pakistan, led by military dictator General Pervez Musharraf,
reversed course under pressure from the United States and joined the
"War on Terror" as a US ally. Having failed to convince the Taliban to
hand over bin Laden and other members of Al Qaeda, Pakistan provided the
U.S. a number of military airports and bases for its attack on
Afghanistan, along with other logistical support. Since 2001, Pakistan
has arrested over five hundred Al-Qaeda members and handed them over to
the United States; senior U.S. officers have been lavish in their praise
of Pakistani efforts in public while expressing their concern that not
enough was being done in private. However, General Musharraf was
strongly supported by the Bush administration – a common theme
throughout Pakistan's relations with the US has been US support of
military dictators to the detriment of democracy in Pakistan.
In return for their support, Pakistan had sanctions lifted and has
received some 10 billion dollars in US aid since 2001, primarily
military. In June 2004, President Bush designated Pakistan as a major
non-NATO ally, making it eligible, among other things, to purchase
advanced American military technology.
Pakistan has lost thousands of lives since joining the US' war on terror
in the form of both soldiers and civilians, and is currently going
through a critical period. Suicide bombs are now commonplace in
Pakistan, whereas they were unheard of prior to 9/11. The Taliban have
been resurgent in recent years in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Hundreds of thousands of refugees have been created internally in
Pakistan, as they have been forced to flee their homes as a result of
fighting between Pakistani forces and the Taliban in the regions
bordering Afghanistan and
further in Swat. In addition, the economy is in an extremely fragile position.
A key campaign argument of President Obama's was that the US had made
the mistake of"putting all our eggs in one basket" in the form of
General Musharraf. Musharraf was eventually forced out of office under
the threat of impeachment, after years of political protests by
lawyers,civilians and other political parties in Pakistan. With
President Obama coming into office, the US is expected to triple
non-military aid to Pakistan to 1.5 billion per year over 10 years, and
to tie military aid to progress in the fight against militants. The
purpose of the aid is to help strengthen
the relatively new democratic government led by President Zardari and to
help strengthen civil institutions and the general economy in Pakistan,
and to put in place an aid program that is broader in scope than just
supporting Pakistan's military.
Pakistan and the United States drew closer together, highlevel visits
were exchanged, and the groundwork was laid for a security relationship
that seemed to meet Pakistan's political needs and equipment deficit. At
United States prompting, Pakistan and Turkey concluded a security
treaty in 1954--the TurkoPakistan Pact--which immediately enabled United
States military assistance to Pakistan under the Mutual Defense
Assistance Agreement signed the same year.
Pakistan also became a member of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
(SEATO) in 1954 and joined the Baghdad Pact, later renamed the Central
Treaty Organization (CENTO) in 1959.Pakistan had little interest in
SEATO and discerned no danger to its interests from China, joining
mainly to oblige Washington. Even CENTO, which offered the advantage of a
new approach to the Muslim world, was problematic because it drove a
wedge between Pakistan and the Arab countries that remained outside it
and was seen by Pakistanis as institutionally weak because the United
States was never willing to become a full member. None of these
arrangements addressed Pakistan's main concern, however--India.
At Pakistan's insistence, an additional agreement (the Agreement of
Cooperation) on security was concluded with the United States in March
1959, by which the United States committed itself to the "preservation
of the independence and integrity of Pakistan" and agreed to
take"appropriate action, including the use of armed forces, as may be
mutually agreed upon . . . in order to assist the Government of Pakistan
at its request." The Agreement of Cooperation also
said nothing about India and was cast in the context of the Eisenhower
Doctrine, which dealt with communist threats to the Middle East.
Pakistan saw the agreement as representing a high level of United States
commitment, however, and some United States officials apparently
encouraged an interpretation that saw more in the agreement than was
actually there. There was considerable self-deception on both
sides--Pakistan believed that it had secured an ally in its rivalry with
India, and the United States focused on Pakistan as an adherent to the
anticommunist cause.
Tangible gains to Pakistan from the relationship were substantial.
Between 1954 and 1965, the United States provided Pakistan with US$630
million in direct-grant assistance and more than US$670 million in
concessional sales and defense-support assistance. Pakistan received
equipment for one additional armored division, four infantry divisions,
and one armored brigade and received support elements for two corps. The
Pakistan Air Force received six squadrons of
modern jet aircraft. The Pakistan Navy received twelve ships. The ports
of Karachi (in West Pakistan) and Chittagong (in East Pakistan) were
modernized. The program did not, however,provide for the wholesale
modernization of the military, much less its expansion. Forces in
Kashmir and East Pakistan were excluded, and there was a continuing
tug-of-war between the United States and Pakistan as Pakistan sought to
extend the scope of the program and wring more benefits out of it.
The impact on the military of this new relationship was intense.
Pakistanis embraced the latest concepts in military organization and
thinking with enthusiasm and adopted United States training and
operational doctrine. The army and the air force were transformed into
fairly modern, well-equipped fighting forces. In the course of the
rearmament program, the military was substantially reorganized along
United States lines, and hundreds of Pakistani officers were trained by
United States officers, either in Pakistan or in schools in the United
States. Although
many British traditions remained, much of the tone of the army, especially the officer corps, was Americanized.
Pakistan's hopes for an equitable settlement of its disputes with India,
especially over Kashmir,were probably small in any event, but by
bringing the United States directly into the South Asian security
equation, rapprochement with India became virtually impossible. More
important, India responded to Pakistan's new alignment by turning to the
Soviet Union for military and political support--and the Soviet leader
at the time, Nikita S. Khrushchev, was only too happy to oblige.
As a result, Pakistan not only incurred Soviet hostility but also
ultimately triggered a Soviet military supply program in India that more
than offset the United States assistance to Pakistan.Soviet displeasure
was further heightened by Pakistan's decision to grant facilities at
Peshawar for the United States to conduct U-2 aerial reconnaissance
missions over the Soviet Union.
Prospects for Pakistan’s relations with US improved after Republican
Eisenhower came to power in 1952 in the White House. Pakistan pushed its
case as an ally that could provide support for Middle East security and
in return it asked for military and economic support for its flail
economy. Unstable domestic politics had led to political and economic
distress while the bureaucratic and military officers were getting
stronger in the country. The Republican government was more receptive of
the Pakistani position and its claims of anti communist stand and an
available allied state.
Pakistan joined with Turkey as member of the Middle East Defense
Organization (MEDO) in 1954. This allowed Pakistan to formally seek aid
as a regional ally of
the US. In January 1955, Pakistan joined South East Asian Treaty
Organization (SEATO) with a view to adding security to the East Asian
flank of anti communist alignment. However, it was not clear how
Pakistan’s role in both these organizations would actually materialize
in the case of an actual conflict. However, for the Pakistanis, becoming
part of these alliances allowed the country to create stronger links
with the US administration and seek increasing aid.
In September 1955, Pakistan became a member of the Baghdad Pact
organization which later became known as CENTO. Turkey, Iran and Iraq
were its earlier members with the US as the backer of the security
arrangement. The role of this organization was similar to the earlier
MEDO as a northern-tier defense arrangement against communist influence
in the Middle East.
"In the end, neither the Baghdad Pact not SEATO amounted to much
militarily. …Joining the Baghdad Pact and SEATO gave Pakistan a
strengthened claim on US resources and, in turn, the US acquired an even
larger stake in Pakistan’s well being. As Pakistan’s president Ayub
Khan put it in his biography, “Friends Not Masters”, Pakistan had become
America’s “most allied ally in Asia”" (Reference 1).
A key development from Pakistan’s perspective was the amount of
development and military aid that started in 1954 and increased to $500
million by 1957 as a result of Pakistan’s joining the regional defense
organizations and allying with the USA. During the second Eisenhower
term,the relations between the two countries became even stronger.
Pakistan’s Army Chief staged a military coup in 1958 and later became
the President of Pakistan. Field Marshal Ayub Khan had developed strong
relations with the Americans and his era from 1958 to 1969 turned out to
a
strong era of US- Pakistan relations. In 1959, Aub’s government allowed
the US to set up an intelligence facility in Badaber, NWFFP province and
operate U2 surveillance flights over the Soviet Union from its Peshawar
Airport. This arrangement and the closer relationship of the Pakistani
government with the US administration allowed it to acquire increasing
military hardware and arms for its defense services. The issue troubling
the US was Pakistan’s closer relations with China. The Indians and
Chinese had fought a war in 1962 in which China had
given India a bloody nose. As a result Pakistan moved to improve and
strengthen its relations with China in order to position itself as a
stronger foe for India. However, Pakistan’s growing friendship with
communist China irked the US who was facing a proxy war against the
communists in Vietnam. Pakistan and India fought a war in 1965 that was
an ill fated affair started by a limited guerilla war in Kashmir that
Ayub started in order to pressurize India to come to the negotiating
table over Kashmir.
Major incidents that have marred the Pak-US ties:
Several incidents of violence against American officials and the US
diplomats stationed in Pakistan turned the relationship sour. In
November 1979, rumours that the United States had participated in the
seizure of the Masjid Al-Haram, the Grand Mosque in Makkah, provoked a
mob to attack the US Embassy in Islamabad. The Chancery was set ablaze,
resulting in a loss of life.
In 1989, an attack on the American Center in Islamabad resulted in the
killing of six Pakistanis in crossfire with the police. In March 1995,
two American employees of the US Consulate in Karachi were killed and
one wounded in an attack.In November 1997, four US businessmen were
brutally murdered while being driven to work in Karachi. Pakistan tested
its nukes on May 28, 1998 in retaliation to the Indian nuclear tests
conducted a fortnight earlier. This proved a major setback for the
never-so-exemplary Pak-US ties.
In March 2002, a suicide attacker detonated explosives in a church in
Islamabad, killing two Americans associated with the Embassy.
Unsuccessful attacks by terrorists on the Consulate General in Karachi
in May 2002 also heightened the Pak-US diplomatic tension. Another bomb
detonated near American and other businesses in Karachi in November
2005, killing three people and wounding 15 others. On March 2, 2006, a
suicide bomber detonated a car laden with explosives near a vehicle
carrying an American Foreign Service officer to the US Consulate
Karachi. The diplomat, the Consulate’s locally employed driver and three
other were killed in the blast, while 52 others were wounded.
In September 2008, an explosives-laden truck exploded at Islamabad’s Marriott Hotel, allegedly killing US Embassy personnel.
Conclusion
In the historical context of US-Pakistan relations, it is obvious that
the mutual relations between the two countries are based on convergence
of common interests from time to time. When the US required U2
surveillance flight facilities and an intelligence base against the
Soviets (1959-1968), backdoor diplomacy with the Chinese (1970-72),
covert operations against the Red Army in Afghanistan (1980-88) and
recently the war against terrorism (2001 - ??), it has extended its best
hand forward in terms of military and economic aid as well as support
for unelected military dictators. On the other hand, Pakistan during
this time has had modest success in growing its economy with economic
aid from the US and from the World Bank and IMF. Pakistan has performed
better in achieving its goal of a nuclear balance with India with its
extensive missile and nuclear programs. However, time will tell how long
the present cooperation between the USA and Pakistan lasts and how much
can the Pakistanis get in reward for their cooperation with US war
against Osama Bin Ladin and his Al-Qaida organization.
