As U.S. President Donald Trump and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan prepare to meet at the White House next week. Behind the feel-good headlines associated with the visit, there are some structural realities Pakistan’s leaders must pay attention to. In American eyes, stabilizing Afghanistan is Pakistan’s only real trump card. Islamabad would prefer to have a broader relationship with Washington beyond being seen as a window into a changing Afghanistan. Yet, in international politics, hopes matter as little as intentions.
If future Afghan stability is made contingent on Pakistan’s alleged good behavior, then there is still a problem. In the past, even friendly U.S. administrations would demand an explanation from Pakistan every time Kabul or its hinterland was attacked. And it was asked, without fail. From 2008 to 2018, Pakistan’s population absorbed the blowback from counterterrorism operations, which took the shape of spectacular retaliatory explosions and bombings that rocked Pakistan’s cities, villages, schools, hotels, and hospitals. The civilian and military death toll was upwards of 70,000 by a conservative count. As the violence waned, most of Pakistan was either confused by their U.S. allies or angry at the lack of acknowledgement from Washington.
Pakistan was once more taken on board after 9/11 to fight the US war on terror after giving repeated assurances that wrongs of the past will be atoned by building relationship on the basis of mutual respect and understanding. Those were false promises; Pakistan was again duped and snared. USA, India and puppet regime in Kabul supported by NATO and Israel became strategic partners and made plans to denuclearize Pakistan and make it a compliant state using indirect strategy. Under the garb of friendship and puny monetary benefits, Pakistan was systematically bled through paid proxies and drones, and discredited through false accusations, false flag operations and media war.
Both sides have taken some preliminary steps to ease tensions and to create conducive environment for the visit which has assumed great importance. The two sides are hoping that this meeting will help in altering distrust into trust and restoring friendly ties.
Pakistan has helped in making some headway in the 7th round of peace talks between Taliban and USA at Doha. Intra-Afghan meeting at Bhurban last month and participation of all Afghan factions in a 2-day summit at Doha are positive developments. As a favor to Ashraf Ghani, Pakistan is pressing the Taliban to hold direct talks with Afghan regime and is also wanting them to ceasefire and stop violence.
On the other hand Imran Khan will visit all his beloved supporters in the US. He will be giving a speech which will address Pakistan’s political climate, various economical changes, and current events taking place there. Pakistan’s national anthem, along with celebratory songs will be playing throughout the event to celebrate Pakistan and their Prime Minister. And Pakistani nation is looking forward to the 45 minute face-to-face talk between IK-Trump on July 22. Will IK get swayed by the magic spell of USA like his predecessors, or negotiate like Quaid-e-Azam?
If future Afghan stability is made contingent on Pakistan’s alleged good behavior, then there is still a problem. In the past, even friendly U.S. administrations would demand an explanation from Pakistan every time Kabul or its hinterland was attacked. And it was asked, without fail. From 2008 to 2018, Pakistan’s population absorbed the blowback from counterterrorism operations, which took the shape of spectacular retaliatory explosions and bombings that rocked Pakistan’s cities, villages, schools, hotels, and hospitals. The civilian and military death toll was upwards of 70,000 by a conservative count. As the violence waned, most of Pakistan was either confused by their U.S. allies or angry at the lack of acknowledgement from Washington.Pakistan was once more taken on board after 9/11 to fight the US war on terror after giving repeated assurances that wrongs of the past will be atoned by building relationship on the basis of mutual respect and understanding. Those were false promises; Pakistan was again duped and snared. USA, India and puppet regime in Kabul supported by NATO and Israel became strategic partners and made plans to denuclearize Pakistan and make it a compliant state using indirect strategy. Under the garb of friendship and puny monetary benefits, Pakistan was systematically bled through paid proxies and drones, and discredited through false accusations, false flag operations and media war.
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Pentagon and CIA play a main role in coloring the perceptions of White House, State Department and the Congress. Jewish and Indian lobbies in USA also have a big hand in keeping Pakistan in bad books of USA. Moreover U.S. President Trump on Wednesday met with a Pakistani Ahmadi man who spent three years in prison for his Ahmadiyya beliefs. Pakistanis Abdul Shukoor and Shaan Taseer were two of the 27 participants in the Oval Office meeting with President Trump. In the backdrop of too many divergences and too few convergences in Pak-US relations, there is little room for shared interests as stated recently.Both sides have taken some preliminary steps to ease tensions and to create conducive environment for the visit which has assumed great importance. The two sides are hoping that this meeting will help in altering distrust into trust and restoring friendly ties.
Pakistan has helped in making some headway in the 7th round of peace talks between Taliban and USA at Doha. Intra-Afghan meeting at Bhurban last month and participation of all Afghan factions in a 2-day summit at Doha are positive developments. As a favor to Ashraf Ghani, Pakistan is pressing the Taliban to hold direct talks with Afghan regime and is also wanting them to ceasefire and stop violence.
On the other hand Imran Khan will visit all his beloved supporters in the US. He will be giving a speech which will address Pakistan’s political climate, various economical changes, and current events taking place there. Pakistan’s national anthem, along with celebratory songs will be playing throughout the event to celebrate Pakistan and their Prime Minister. And Pakistani nation is looking forward to the 45 minute face-to-face talk between IK-Trump on July 22. Will IK get swayed by the magic spell of USA like his predecessors, or negotiate like Quaid-e-Azam?
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