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By Vijay Darda | 08-01-2018
Pakistan was nurturing terrorism through the funds received from the US. Now the US must be alert to the reality.
Not all is well between the US and Pakistan. Pakistan would not have anticipated that the Trump administration would take such a stringent step. Suddenly, Trump said last week that in the last 15 years, Pakistan has just given America “lies and deceits” in exchange for a $33 billion aid and has provided safe haven to the terrorists. Soon the news came that the security subsidy of more than $ 1.15 billion was withheld. Nothing can be clearly said about how long this stay will remain. While the US is still showing severity, it also knows that Pakistan is the only surface route for it to reach Afghanistan.
It may be recalled that in May 2011 when the US Marines had entered Pakistan and killed Osama Bin Laden, Pakistan had blocked the way going towards Afghanistan. Then the US troops had to face a dilemma. However, it does not seem that this time Pakistan will try to show such adamance! The reason for this is that this time the US is annoyed. It has clearly said that Pakistan has sheltered terror groups like Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network and is not taking any action against them. If Pakistan tried to show any adamance, the Trump administration could go to any extent.
Actually, the US is trying to give a double message to Pakistan by blocking the aid. One is the message of destroying terrorist groups which are a headache in Afghanistan for the United States and the second message is that Pakistan should not sit completely in China’s lap! America is worried that China’s infiltration in Pakistan will harm its interests. Pakistan understands this, but it knows that the way China is supporting it on the issue of fighting with India, the United States will not support it. That is why it is trying to convey to the US that it is annoyed due to the close proximity of the US to India. So this matter is just a tug of war.
Should we be happy with the tiff between America and Pakistan? Should it be expected that Pakistan will rein in terrorism that thrives on its own soil? Will some of this benefit us in Kashmir issue? The only answer to these questions is that we should not form any opinion in a hurry. Of course, if Pakistan does not get American aid for a few years, it will have an impact on the Pakistan military’s strength. China is not so generous that it will compensate Pakistan for the financial assistance received from the US.
The reality is that Pakistan has been helped by the US since the time it came into existence. After the terrorist attacks on New York’s World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001, Pakistan became a big ally of the US and in turn got US help. According to the report of the US think-tank Centre for Global Development and the US Congress, the US gave Pakistan $39.93 billion between 2002 and 2015. America is also aware that Pakistan has misused the money it has been given to fight terrorism. Pakistan took action against those terrorist organisations which proved to be dangerous for Pakistan itself
On the other hand, it used this money to strengthen those terrorist organisations that could destroy India. The US has strong evidence that the 26/11 attacks in India have been carried out by terrorists sheltered in Pakistan. The biggest name among them is Hafiz Saeed. The US has put a bounty of millions of dollars on the head of the world’s dreaded terrorist Hafiz Saeed, but did the US pressurise Pakistan to tighten the screws on Saeed? No, not at all! If the US desired, Hafiz Saeed would be paying for his crimes. So there is no harm in saying that America is not interested in destroying terrorism we are troubled with. It only sees its own interests. America knew that the military equipment it has been giving to Pakistan has always been used against India.
Now America is extending the hand of friendship with us, and it is due to China and Russia. Today the US is being challenged by the duo. America is looking forward to having a powerful nation with it in the form of India in South Asia. We have to be careful! America should understand that it takes two to make a clap! For Pakistan, I would like to specifically say that it will have to open its eyes. It has to take care of its people. The terrorism it is nurturing to harm others will destroy it too.
Before I concluded…
Recently, I visited Israel. I met many people there. Everyone asked the same question as to why India opposed the proposal to make Jerusalem Israel’s capital in the United Nations. Israel is a friend of India. As far as relations with the Arab nations were concerned, India could have abstained from voting. The Israelis are really very upset because of India’s stand.
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