Relations Between United States & Pakistan

Air University,

Department of Mechanical Engineering,

Pakistan Studies Report

Submitted by

Ibrahim Arif 150515

Mohma Laraib 150518

Fawad ul Hassan 150536

Ameer Hamza Jan Khattak 150565

Instructor

Miss Tooba Shahzadi

Dated: 12thDecember 2018

Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1 ................................................................................................................................... 1

1. Introduction: ................................................................................................................................ 1

1.1 Bilateral Representation ........................................................................................................ 1

CHAPTER 2 ................................................................................................................................... 2

2. Early Relationship .................................................................................................................. 2

CHAPTER 3 ................................................................................................................................... 3

3. Bilateral Economic Relations .................................................................................................. 3

CHAPTER 4 ................................................................................................................................... 4

4. Military Collaboration: ............................................................................................................... 4

4.1 Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan ............................................................................................. 4

4.2 Afghan War Policy ................................................................................................................ 6

CHAPTER 5 ................................................................................................................................... 6

5. Present Relations ..................................................................................................................... 6

References ....................................................................................................................................... 9
 CHAPTER 1

1. Introduction:

During the initial years of Pakistan, the country had the options of building allegiance with
Soviet Union or United States; however, Pakistan opted for the latter. Pakistan-United States
relations refers to the bilateral relationship between Pakistan and the United States. After two
months and six days of Pakistan's independence, the United States established relations with
Pakistan on 20 October 1947.These two states recognized one another as sovereign states and
agreed to pursue diplomatic relations but it can be extrapolated that the relations have been based
strictly on military and economic support. The nature of Pakistan-US relations is not easy to
analyze as it has passed through a various number of different stages. In earlier, Pakistan
consistently found themselves on the United States side during the Cold War.

US has a multi-faceted relationship with Pakistan in areas ranging from counter-terrorism to

energy to trade and investment. Pakistani forces have made significant sacrifices in recent years
to reclaim parts of the country previously held by militant groups. In line with the South Asia
strategy announced by the President in August 2017, the United States continues to encourage
Pakistan to take decisive action to prevent all militant and terrorist groups from using its
territory. Pending this action, the United States suspended security assistance to Pakistan in
January 2018. The United States has generally been one of the largest sources of foreign direct
investment in Pakistan and is its largest export market. Trade relations between the United States
and Pakistan continue to grow and the U.S. government supports this relationship by funding
reverse trade delegations, business conferences, technical assistance, and business outreach.

1.1 Bilateral Representation

The current U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan is Paul W. Jones. Pakistan maintains an embassy in the
United States at 3517 International Court NW, Washington, DC 20008 (tel. 202-243-6500). It
has consulates in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Houston.

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 CHAPTER 2

2. Early Relationship

In mid-August 2018, British ended their century long colonization of the Indian sub continent.
This gave way to the formation of India and Pakistan. India was the stronger of the two
aforementioned countries, so their chances of survival were much better then Pakistan. India
needed little to no support from global superpowers. India had a fairly strong military,
infrastructure and industries. They inherited all the elements of an essential state from the British
Rule. On the other hand, Pakistan did not inherit any of these perks. As compared to other
countries of the region, the military of Pakistan was outnumbered and out gunned. Same was the
case with industry and infra-structure. So, it can be argued that Pakistan was an inherently weak
state. On top of that, the aggressive actions of India did not help Pakistan‟s cause. The partition
between India and Pakistan was a very violent one. Therefore, a fairly strong anti Pakistan
sentiment was broadcasted by India. All of this seems ominous. A full scale armed conflict broke
out between India and Pakistan in 1948. Thankfully, the international community has had their
fair share of armed conflicts in recent years. Therefore, the battle between the two new born
countries was stopped by the intervention of international community. But this conflict triggered
a very strong survival mechanism among Pakistani population. A wide spread fear found its way
right into the very existence of the Pakistani communities. In fact, a psychologist will classify it
as a combination of a fear and an inherent insecurity. This fear was that survival of Pakistan is at
stake. An aggressor will roam into the boundaries of our country, and our homeland will be
colonized once again. One can argue that this fear is based on troubled past of people residing in
this part of the world. After all, subcontinent has had its fair share of invasions. Be it the Aryans,
the Mauryans or the Afghan monarchs. The people of the sub- continent are no stranger to
foreign invasions.

So, the foreign policy of Pakistan was based on this inherent fear that the very survival of the
country is at stake. As result of this sturdy fear, in Pakistan, foreign policy decisions are never
based on rational thinking or national interest considerations. Instead, these key decisions are
made in a rather emotional manner. These decisions are driven by a rather emotional state, which
in turn is driven by a self perceived existential threat to our society. Same was the case with

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initial foreign policy of Pakistan. The new found country was inherently fragile, so, in order to
survive, it had to side with a global super power. United States and the Soviet Union were two
un- challenged global super powers at that time. Actually, these two countries were much more
then superpowers. These two countries represented two very different ways of lives. They
embodied two different world orders which were in stark contrast with each other. So, it was
fairly obvious that Pakistan could not have played nice with both of these countries. At that point
in time, it was widely believed in the strategic think tanks as well as the general people around
the globe that there will be a long cold war between US and the Soviet Union but at the end
capitalism will prevail in form of success of United States. There was a strong belief within
Pakistani school of thoughts that in order to survive; Pakistan must team up with one of the
world leaders. Because of the aforementioned factors, Pakistan never had an opportunity to stay
neutral. So, the government of Pakistan made a very smart looking choice by choosing
capitalism over communism.

Pakistan served as a geostrategic position for United States military bases during the Cold War
against the Soviet Union. Pakistan joined CENTO and SEATO, the anti-Russian military
alliances formed by US. America found Pakistan an important ally because of her geographical
location that further helped the superpower to increase its sphere of influence in Asia. This
relation was further strengthened after Pakistan signed SEATO and CENTO. Furthermore, the
US had no issue in getting permission from Pakistan to use her military bases for spying
purposes, such as the U-2 incident. SEATO and CENTO were designed to lure a group of
countries towards capitalism. This allowed the west to project their way of life. In return, US
offered Pakistan military assistance in case of a Soviet Invasion. However, this relationship
dynamic gave way to a lot of complications on both sides.

CHAPTER 3

3. Bilateral Economic Relations

Pakistan is the sixth largest country in the world by population and the 40th largest economy,
with GDP growth reaching 5.3% in 2017. The United States is Pakistan‟s largest export
destination country, while China is Pakistan‟s largest import partner and the European Union is
Pakistan‟s largest export market. Despite ongoing security concerns, Pakistan remains an

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attractive market for some U.S. companies due to favorable demographics and a growing middle
class; however, there are real trade and investment barriers that limit the ability of U.S.
companies to enter the market and grow their businesses in Pakistan. Overall U.S.-Pakistan trade
is up nearly 20 percent since 2013, reaching $6.4 billion in 2017. U.S. exports to Pakistan are at
an all-time high and up some 70% over the same period. While bilateral trade has continued to
grow in 2018, deteriorating macroeconomic fundamentals put Pakistan‟s future growth at risk.
Major U.S. investments are concentrated in fast-moving consumer goods, construction,
chemicals, energy, transportation, and communications. [1]

CHAPTER 4

4. Military Collaboration:
The military collaboration between Pakistan and the United States can be traced back to two
unique endeavors. Following section of the report contains details of these events:

4.1 Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan

During the SEATO and CENTO treaties, United States had pledged to provide unconditional
military support to Pakistan in case of a soviet invasion. During the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971,
Pakistan expected military support from United States. Pakistanis were under the impression that
United States had pledged to provide military support to Pakistan in case of any armed conflict.
So, there was a wide spread believe within Pakistan that Americans had failed to come through
their assurances in 1971 war. Pakistan sustained massive losses in 1971 war. There was strong
sentiment within Pakistani government as well as military establishment, that US could have
stopped India from intervening into Pakistan‟s civil war. Consequently, there was a very strong
anti-American sentiment in Pakistan. The public sentiment was resonant in the policies of the
upcoming governments of Pakistan. As a result, US-Pakistan relationship took a severe hit.
Things remained stagnant for about a decade.

The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan changed everything. By that point in time, relations of US
with Iran had been deteriorated seriously. So, US and west knew it all too well that assistance of
Pakistan is critical to halt the aggressive expansionism policy of Kremlin. When Russians
marched into the Afghanistan, it was a big deal for US; because USSR was threatening the
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American way of life. By that point in time it was becoming increasingly obvious to West that
Kremlin is striving hard to push communism beyond its borders. Had Russian managed to
stronghold Afghanistan, the next target of expansionist USSR regime would definitely have been
Pakistan. Invasion of south eastern countries by communist regimes was a very terrifying
prospect for US. Meanwhile, USSR was basically an existential threat to Pakistan. Soviet
presence in Afghanistan would have been a highly undesirable outcome for US as well as
Pakistan

The old saying, “Enemy of my enemy is my friend”, came to living when US and Pakistan
teamed up to beat a common foe. So, intelligence agencies of US and Pakistan basically teamed
up together. Unprecedented amount of intelligence sharing was carried out between US and
Pakistan. All of the sudden, Pakistan became a front line state in global fight against
communism. The cold war wasn‟t so „cold‟ anymore. And it was being fought right next door to
Pakistan. That was the moment in history when Pakistan played its cards right. Pakistan agreed
to play ball with the West. But the military establishment of Pakistan made it absolutely clear to
the west that Pakistan will make the rules and west will have to follow them.

It did so by strong arming US intelligence agencies and convincing to funnel all money through
Pakistan. So, US supplied money to Pakistan, and then Pakistan trained the Afghan combatants.
In this way, Pakistani military was in control of the supply lines. It is widely believed that armed
forces of Pakistan reaped massive financial and technological advancements during this period.
The alliance of US and Pakistan eventually prevailed. Actually, Russians were beaten all ends up
in Pakistan. Afghan Taliban fought on the frontlines and they managed to give one hell of a
fight. But Pakistan was the real king maker in this scenario. Pakistan trained Taliban fighters; it
provided Taliban with much needed tactical and technological support. Culturally, Pakistanis
were close to Taliban, so, Pakistanis managed to train the Taliban fighters in a much more
efficient manner. Although US and Pakistan worked closely with each other to make sure that
Afghans have everything in their inventory. Still, the support of Pakistan was of critical
importance in the combat operations. Soviet Union accepted their defeat and retreated. The
problems between US and Pakistan started after that. US did not help Pakistan to carry out nation
building process in Afghanistan. As the Soviets retreated, the Americans just packed their bags
and left. Now, Pakistan had this tremendous mess along their western border. Pakistanis were

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extremely unpleasant with the US attitude in this regard. US offered no assistance in the nation
building progress in Afghanistan. The infra structure and economy of Afghanistan collapsed
during the armed conflict with Russians. As the situation continued to deteriorate, a humanitarian
crisis unfolded in Afghanistan, and Pakistan had to accommodate hundreds of thousands of
Afghan refugees. This gave way to a host of problems in Pakistan. The economic growth of
Pakistan took a sever hit as a result of that. Moreover, the country also experienced waves of
insurgency that found its way through the western border. So, this turned out to be, „out of the
frying pan, into the oven‟, situation for Pakistan.

4.2 Afghan War Policy

After September 11 attacks, United States decided to hunt down Osama Bin Laden. In order to
so, US had to carry out military operations in landlocked Afghanistan. Therefore, in order for
US to have any sort of success in Afghanistan, they needed considerable logistical support from
Pakistan. After New York terror attacks, the whole planet gathered behind US as it launched
itself into another armed conflict in Afghanistan. Considering the prevailing global sentiment
against terrorism, Pakistan did not have much of a choice when US asked Pakistan to provide
logistical support during combat operations in Afghanistan.

Pakistan agreed to provide all types of logistical support to the US troops. The military co-
operation between two countries reached to such a point that once again, Pakistan allowed US to
have military basis within Pakistan. However, the intelligence sharing between these two
countries was not as strong this time around as it was during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
While battling the Russians back in 80‟s, US and Pakistan had a lot more motivation to work
together. Russians posed an existential threat to Americans as well as Pakistanis. So, at that point
in time, the alliance between Pakistan and US was very natural.

CHAPTER 5

5. Present Relations

The current relationship between Pakistan and United States can be characterized by inherent
mistrust between the two countries. Thing went south between US and Pakistan when United
States military carried out a military operation within Pakistan. US troops claimed that they
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captured Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad. After that, both countries were considerably upset at
each other. US claimed that Pakistan was providing a safe house to their „enemy number one‟.
And Pakistan argued that, they did not have any idea that Osama was right next door all that
time. Pakistanis projected that US should have provided information to Pakistan regarding the
whereabouts of Osama and afterwards US should have trusted Pakistan to eliminate the target.
The lack of trust between the two countries can be materialized by the fact that US troops did not
even inform Pakistani military before carrying out this operation.

For about last decade and a half, the relations between US and Pakistan have been mainly
focused on the co-operation and the logistical support that Pakistan was providing to US at its
western borders. Back in 2008, US decided to pull out troops from Afghanistan. Although, US
maintains a presence in Afghanistan, but the number of troops stationed there have been
considerably reduced over the period of last few years. Recently, the relations between Pakistan
and United States have hit the rock bottom. United States no longer needs the same level of
logistical support in Afghanistan as they previously did. Moreover, there is a prevailing
sentiment in Washington that Pakistan double crossed US during war against terrorism. Many
US senators have echoed these concerns. The lack of trust stems from the speculation that
Pakistani intelligence agencies provided support to Afghan Taliban and Al-Qaeda. Islamabad
denies all such claims; In fact, many Pakistanis find such claims very disrespecting and
inconsiderate. Pakistanis believe that when US instructs Pakistan to „do more‟ in Afghanistan, it
undermines the tremendous cost that Pakistanis have paid during last decade or so. The argument
of Pakistan is backed up by concrete facts. Pakistan has acted as front line state in war against
terrorism. And while doing so, Pakistan has taken major blunt of the impact of the devastation
imparted by this war. According to estimates of international observes, over 70,000 Pakistanis
lost their lives in terrorist incidents which directly transpired as a result of participation of
Pakistan in conflict in Afghanistan. And the financial losses encountered during the ongoing war
against terrorism amass up to trillions of dollars. Pakistan also addresses the concern that US did
not follow through the mutually agreed plans in Afghanistan. Pakistanis believe that US just
packed up its bags and just left when it was done with Afghanistan. US did not play its role in
nation building process in Afghanistan, so, they left a tremendous mess in Afghanistan. Now,
Pakistan has to handle all the militant groups along its porous western border, and this is
adversely affecting the security conditions within Pakistan. Both sides have very strong and

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vocal opinions about each other‟s role in war against terrorism, consequently, the relations
between US and Pakistan have hit the absolute rock bottom.

CPEC is a game changer for Pakistan for so many reasons. It allows Pakistan to explore new
venues in foreign policy. Now, Pakistan can reshape its relation with US. Pakistan must use its
diplomatic channels to establish new dynamics with the US. These dynamics must be shaped in
such a manner that the relation between Pakistan and the US must be based on mutual respect.
Both these countries should pursue efforts to work together for common goals. They must work
together in areas in which interests of both of these countries align.

Recently, Afghan Taliban have shown willingness to come up to the negotiating table. Therefore,
now, there is a realistic chance that peace can be achieved in Afghanistan. However, it has
become fairly obvious in last few decades that no lasting understanding can be reached until all
the stake holders sit down on the negotiating table. United States and Pakistan must pursue
diplomatic efforts to resolve their differences. By doing so, they will enable themselves to work
hard to achieve peace in the South Asia. This will also enable them to empowering each other
and develop a dynamic which is beneficial to both of these countries.

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References
[1] August 23, 2018, U.S Bilateral Relations fact Sheet, BUREAU OF SOUTH AND CENTRAL
ASIAN AFFAIRS