A Patchy Relationship Maria Syed Amidst mixed signals coming from the US, it is hard to make out what

lies ahead in Pak-US relations. The off-again and on-again syndrome is not pointing out towards a definite course of things for Pak-US relations. First came the Chicago summit where Pakistan was invited at the last minute. Once there it got a cold shoulder from the US. Then was the threat to cut off aid to Pakistan over imprisoning Dr. Shakil Afridi. Statement of Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, backed by lawmakers and Chairman US Joints Chiefs of Staff Gen Martin Dempsey that the US is running out of patience with Pakistan sent alarming signals. Nevertheless Gen Dempsey acknowledged the efforts being put up by Pakistan in fighting militants on Pakistans territory. A lull in tensions was recently seen with a few developments. The US secretary of Defence Leon Panetta has strongly recommended not cutting off aid to Pakistan. Senator Dianne Feinstein expressed in a senate hearing that the national security of the US can be improved through building a positive relationship with Pakistan. Senator Feinstein also suggested that apologizing Pakistan will improve the bilateral relationship. The bid to cut off aid to Pakistan did not see the daylight when it was blocked by the majority leader in the Senate Harry Reid saying that there is a right time for everything and the important thing is to convey the message over Dr. Shakil Afridi which they had. The relations between Pakistan and the US have been turbulent since 2011. The wrangling has continued ever since the NATO attack on Salala check post on the PakAfghan border killing 24 Pakistani soldiers. The deadlock persists over certain issues such as apology over the Salala incident and cessation of drone strikes. Both allies have been trying hard to make the other feel envious through warming up to each others hostile forces. The visit of Russias special envoy to Afghanistan and Chinese foreign minister must be of crucial significance to the US. The visit of Russian envoy must be seen in the context of a concerned regional power that is affected by the situation in Afghanistan. All the regional countries have much at stake in Afghanistan. And if they believe regional cooperation can help them achieve goals than it must not worry others. The US has gone way ahead of Pakistan by actually signing long-term cooperation agreements with India. A US company has inked a deal with India and is setting up a nuclear reactor in India. While Pakistan has always expressed its reservation against larger Indian role in Afghanistan, the US paying no heed to Pakistans concerns has signed a trilateral mechanism for holding talks with India and Afghanistan. Cozying up

with India has certainly not gone unnoticed in Pakistan. Keeping out Pakistan of an Afghan solution and that too involving India can never go well with Pakistan. The US has always come hard on Pakistan for not doing enough; the US must understand that the combined power of NATO countries under the ISAF mission has failed miserably in Afghanistan. Pakistan has helped in the past to eliminate terrorism and will continue to do so. Pakistan does not have a magical wand to put away all the undesirable issues in Afghanistan. Both countries should realize that they need each other. There is much common ground between the two states. For one, in the post-2014 both sides do not want Afghanistan falling victim to instability, civil strife and chaos. Pakistan being the next door neighbour gets affected closely by any outcome in Afghanistan, a peaceful prosperous Afghanistan makes a peaceful prosperous Pakistan. Bickering and fighting with each other will not help Afghanistan. If the US takes a u-turn this time in its ties with Pakistan, it may ingrain forever in the minds of the Pakistani public that the US is not a trust-worthy ally. They will be nostalgic; remembering how Pakistan was left in the cold after the US had achieved its interests in Afghanistan in the 1980s. During the decade-long alliance between Pakistan and the US, Pakistani public remained skeptical of the US. It takes a long time to build up trust and seconds to destroy it. After ditching Pakistan this time it will not be easy for the US to come asking for Pakistans help if the need arises next time. Pakistan must learn from its experiences and revamp its foreign policy. Limiting Pakistans ties to a single camp and a power has always restricted Pakistans foreign policy options. To have friendly relations with all countries including the regional states and the US should be a permanent element of the foreign policy and not on the needto-need basis. .

The writer works for Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) This article was carried by The Frontier Post, 27 June, 2012