Introduction
When Pakistan got independence from British rule. Pakistan was economically very diverse side by side Pakistan was facing partition related tribulations. Pakistan had fear of war with India while Kashmir was biggest problem. Pakistan had very few resources, when resources were divided between India and Pakistan ,Pakistan got only 17% share on the other side Army was divided equally.In these few resources It was not possible for Pakistan to feed such a big army.
There are two main factors that influenced Pakistan's foreign Policy ;
1. Defense;
Pakistan had fear of Indian Aggression.She was feeling insecure, antagonism between both the newly born states might turn into war.
2.Kashmir Dispute;
Kashmir is bone of contention between India and Pakistan. Bot the countries are claiming it as their integral part.But Kashmir is geographically ,culturally and religiously more similar to Pakistan.Pakistan and India fouught war over this dispute in 1948. India occupied Jammu and Kashmir while Pakistan also occupied some areas. Pakistan wants to settle this dispute through plebiscite according to the Resolution of UN whereas India is delaying it. Pakistan needed to join such alliance which could help Pakistan resolve Kashmir Dispute.Therefor Pakistan Joined American Alliance.
Pakistan is located at a region which has great political, economic and strategic importance. It has been hub of activities of great powers for last 20 years. It has witnessed intervention of three great powers i.e Britain, USSR, and USA. Its significance was further enhanced during cold war when it becomes ally of US policy of containment of USSR and now the post cold war era has witnessed its significance particularly after the events of 9/11.
Pakistan’s Geostrategic Importance
Location: Southern Asia lies between 24 and 36.75 northern latitude and between 61 and 75.05 eastern longitude.
Area: 7, 96000 sq.km.
Neighbours: Towards north apart from the state of Kashmir is China. It shares 400 km long border with china.
Towards north Tajikistan though no boarder but a narrow strip as Wahkhan strip separate the two.
Towards east, Punjab-Rajasthan borders which is 1650 km long
Towards west, Afghanistan and Durand line of 2250 km.
Towards south, Arabian and Indian sea. Coastal belt is about 700 km.
Pakistan significance is enhanced as it lies near the Persian Gulf where 65% of the world’s oil is produced.
Importance of Pakistan For Us
- US utilises Pakistan’s Location to contain Regional Powers
Pakistan is located at the junction of great powers. In its neighbor’s one world power Russia and the other emerging power china lies. Any alliance among world powers enhances its significance. This factor has been utilized by Pakistan after 9/11.
USA’s Interest in the Region
Security and business are two main US interests in the region while Pakistan is playing a front line role in the war against terrorism. Apart from this US interest in the region to contain the growing china, nuclear Iran, terrorist Afghanistan and to benefit from the market of India. Today the political scenario of the region is tied with preemption policy and US invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. Iran’s nuclear program, India’s geopolitical muscles (new strategic deal with US) to gain hegemony and to counter the rise of china. Which has earned all the qualities to change unipoler world into bipolar world. In all these issues, Pakistan is directly or indirectly involved especially after al-Qeada operations. Then American think tank has repeatedly accepted that war against terrorism could never be won without the help of Pakistan. Pakistan has rigorously fought and an ongoing operation in Waziristan is also targeting the suspected Taliban in the bordering area.
- USA's quest to reach the Central Asian Resources
Central Asia is the center stage of new Great games. Quest for resources- oil and energy resources- holds the central point in their policies towards the central Asia. After USSR decline, new quest started which is manifested in their politics towards acquiring oil and gas. Pakistan is located very close to the oil rich Middle Eastern countries. The belt starts from Iran and is extended to the southern tip of Arabian Peninsula with Saudi Arabia as the chief exporter of the oil in the world. Thus, Pakistan can play an influential role in the shipment of oil.USA has only one option that it can go through Pakistan to Central Asia.
- Pakistan's geo-strategy used against USSR
The relationship of Pakistan and the United States, while not unblemished by occasional disagreements, has been stable, amicable and constructive for nearly half a century.
Mutual Defense Assistance Agreement .
Pakistan was linked to the United States by the Mutual Defence Treaty of 1954 as well as by membership in the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) in 1954. Further bonds were forged by the Baghdad Pact, in 1955 first known as the Middle East Treaty Organization (METO) and, after the withdrawal of Iraq, as the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO). In 1959 Pakistan and the United States signed the Bilateral Agreement of Cooperation which provided for assistance to Pakistan if victimized by aggression. There have been several dramatic manifestations of Pakistan's loyalty to the United States.
U-2 intelligence aircraft
In the late 1950s Pakistan allowed the construction of a then secret air base in Peshawar, from which U-2 intelligence aircraft made reconnaissance flights over the Soviet Union. It was not until 1960 when one of the U-2 pilots, Francis Gary Powers, was shot down and captured in the Soviet Union that the nature and extent of this intelligence operation was revealed. Hafeez Malik, in a careful study of the U-2 incident, finds that the United States was able to increase its list of identifiable Soviet targets from 3,000 to 20,000 as a result of this surveillance. Pakistan's role in preserving the secrecy of this operation was not without risk to the martial law regime of Ayub Khan. The Soviet Union was incensed by this action, and announced that Peshawar was marked on its war maps for bombing.
- Henry Kissinger's Passage to China From Pakistan
An uncommonly spectacular instance of Pakistan's fidelity was the secret mission of Henry Kissinger to Beijing in 1971. Kissinger, while in Pakistan, was said to be ill and was ostensibly motored to Nathiagali, a hill station, to recuperate. In fact, a look-alike made the motor trip in a car identical to the one Kissinger would have used. Meantime Kissinger was driven to Chaklala airport near Islamabad by Sultan Mohammed Khan, the secretary-general of the Foreign Affairs Ministry. From there he embarked on a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane for Beijing where he met with Foreign Minister Zhou En-Lai and arranged for President Nixon's historic visit to China in 1972. Fewer than five people were aware of this extraordinary caper until several days later.
- Pakistan Supplies Arms Shipment to Taliban
Pakistan played a critical role in the historic defeat of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. It risked its own stability by accepting 3.5 million Afghan refugees and by serving as a conduit for arms shipments from the United States to the Mujahideen. It has not yet recovered from the aftershock of this enterprise. Much of the drug traffic, smuggling, and terrorism can be attributed to this role in the Afghan crisis. In a nation whose religious ideology places a premium on the loyalty and steadfastness of friends, whether personal or political, Pakistan finds it difficult to comprehend the United States indifference to the Kashmir issue, its double-standard towards nuclear proliferation in South Asia, and its reluctance to repay the cash payment made for the purchase (with no delivery) of F-16 fighter aircraft.
- Current dynamic of US-Pakistan
The US, by deciding to retain its forces in Afghanistan until 2018, is giving a signal that its relationship with Afghanistan and interest in the region is not transactional, but of a more abiding nature. Clearly, the US initially underestimated the strength and staying power of the Taliban. President Obama now realises that if they prevail, or if civil war erupts on a large scale, the gains that were supposedly made with the support of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan during the last 14 years will be reversed.
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor annoys US
The potential of the Islamic State increasing its footprints, particularly in Afghanistan and even in certain Central Asian states and Pakistan has become a reality. There is an appreciation among US policymakers that Pakistan has a strategic importance in its own right and maintaining close relations with it is in the US interest. Moreover, the region’s geostrategic significance has enhanced considerably as a consequence of China’s deep involvement in the region. The multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project is likely to alter the region’s potential and dynamics and the US does not want the vacuum to be filled entirely by China.
America wants Pakistan to bring Taliban to Negotiating Table
The US also expects Pakistan to use its influence with the Taliban leadership in bringing them to the negotiating table and persuading them to abandon the insurgency or at least maintain a ceasefire while negotiations are initiated. Nawaz Sharif will try to emphasise that Pakistan’s interest in maintaining relations with the Taliban Shura and lethal groups like the Haqqani network is to retain leverage for persuading them to engage in dialogue and stop fighting. Pakistan also wants Washington to realise that taking a very hard position against the Taliban and their affiliates could push them to join forces with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.
Pakistan,USA and Taliban
Pakistan maintains that the Taliban are a reality with a substantial following and the Afghan government has to find ways of accommodating them in the power structure. There is a genuine realisation both within the civil and military elite that it is in Pakistan’s vital interest that a peaceful resolution to the Afghanistan conflict is reached. Pakistan has got itself so intractably involved in the quagmire that is Afghanistan that despite sincere efforts in pursuit of peace, it still comes under severe criticism from the Afghan government and civil society. Apart from doing incalculable damage to Pakistan’s economy, internal stability and national cohesion, the Afghan fallout has soiled its reputation. Of course, Pakistan itself is partly to blame for this predicament, having blindly jumped into supporting the Afghan jihad against the Soviets in the late 1970s and then supporting the Taliban government in the 1990s, and later failing to prevent them from carving sanctuaries in certain parts of Fata and Balochistan. But that is history. Pakistan’s current leadership, ever since President Ashraf Ghani took over, has been keen to establish a durable and mutually beneficial relationship. Progress, however, has been slow and the temporary seizure of Kunduz by the Taliban has made matters worse. Surely, the prime minister will seek US support in allaying Afghanistan’s misgivings and reiterate his government’s commitment to make sincere efforts in security.
PM of Pakistan’s recent visit to US
PM of Pakistan is also going to draw President Obama’s attention to India’s involvement in Balochistan, Fata and Karachi. In all likelihood, Washington’s response was that this matter is taken up bilaterally with the Indian leadership.The prime minister raised the issue of Pakistan’s inclusion in Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and other international export control regimes. If this concession is extended to India, it should be similarly relaxed for Pakistan, as its energy deficit is even greater. Moreover, Pakistan is of the view that acceptance of India to the NSG will allow it to divert its indigenous production and build stocks at a faster pace. The chances of this request materialising in the near future, however, are slim going by the statement of the State Department that such a proposal is premature. Lobbies opposed to Pakistan try to keep memories of the AQ Khan episode alive despite our efforts at strengthening the nuclear safety and security regime.
US Still influential in Pakistan’s Strategic Policies
The previous carrot-and-stick US policy against the middle powers is no more valid in the context of Pakistan. There is, however, now a different geostrategic picture that gives Pakistan other options to counter such pressures. It enjoys extremely close strategic ties with China and is developing relations with Russia that has created political and economic space and injected a sense of confidence in policymakers. Having said that, Washington retains the ability to influence events and harm countries that go against its wishes. We cannot ignore that the US is one of our largest trading partners and accounted for nearly 16 per cent of our total exports and bilateral trade in FY2015. It also remains the most attractive source of sophisticated state-of-the-art weapons and equipment.
Future of Afghanistan : Role of Pakistan and Us
Declaration of Enduring Partnership was signed between the Government of Afghanistan and Nato in 2010 to provide a long-term security, economic, and political support to Afghanistan and the importance of regional efforts in its continued success.US says stable Afghanistan that is at peace and enjoys productive relations with its neighbours will be an effective counter-weight against extremism. A stable Afghanistan is also conducive to economic development in South and Central Asia. US also highlighted the fact that US and Pakistan have to set future events on a positive course and seize opportunity for a brighter future in Afghanistan.From this it can be concluded that america can not stay for longer in Afghanistan without Pakistan.
