Relations between Pakistan and the
United States have been fluctuating since the founding of Pakistan and the two
countries have always needed each other. As far as Pakistan has benefited from
these relations, there are also many disadvantages.
Historically, during the rule of
Liaquat Ali Khan, the first Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pakistan was invited by
both Russia and the United States in the Cold War. Pakistan preferred the
United States. One of the reasons for choosing the United States was that Russia
was a communist country while the United States was a democracy. Quaid-e-Azam
had said in a cabinet meeting in 1947 that "Pakistan is a democratic
country and communism cannot flourish in Islamic countries." It is clear
that our interests will be tied to the United States and Britain, not Russia.
"
Under Ayub Khan, relations between
Pakistan and the United States were good, but then in the 1965 war, Pakistan
used the weapons against India, which were aided by the United States, and were
banned from being used against India. They left and so the American aid
stopped. One of the reasons was that Ayub Khan was a dictator and was against
the democratic system.
The United States did not help
Pakistan in the 1971 Indo-Pakistani war, so Pakistan broke the SATO and SENTO
agreements with the US. Under Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Pakistan's nuclear program
was founded, and when the Arab-Israeli war broke out in Ramadan 1973, Zulfiqar
Ali Bhutto sent Pakistan Air Force pilots to help the Arabs, and the United
States turned against Bhutto. Under General Zia-ul-Haq, when Ronald Reagan was
elected President of the United States, Pakistan received a lot of aid and all
economic sanctions were lifted because of Pakistan's war against Russia in
Afghanistan. One of the motives behind Pakistan's involvement in the war was
that General Zia believed that Russia wanted access to Pakistan's Gwadar port
through Afghanistan. The United States and Saudi Arabia were financing the war
and providing all the weapons.
Using the love of Muslims for Islam
and calling it jihad, Mujahideen from Muslim countries were being prepared for
war against Russia in Afghanistan. Eventually, a superpower like Russia fell
apart, thus helping the United States achieve its long-awaited goal with the
help of Pakistan, and the United States emerged as the sole superpower in the
world. The biggest loss to Pakistan in this war was that a storm of drug
trafficking and terrorism swept through Pakistan. Eleven years after General
Zia's rule, when democracy came to Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto was elected Prime
Minister, Pakistan conducted missile tests in that period, which were
successful, The United States did not like the bombings and imposed sanctions
on Pakistan because the United States has always been against Pakistan's nuclear
program.
An incident took place on September
11, 2001 which turned the attention of the United States to Pakistan. In the
aftermath of 9/11, the United States declared war on Afghanistan, which then
turned into a war on terror, dubbed the "War on Terror." After 9/11,
the US President threatened Pakistan that either Pakistan is with us in this
war or the opposition, as a result of which General Pervez Musharraf decided to
side with the US, first Pakistan negotiated with the Taliban. Attempts were made
to extradite Osama bin Laden to the United States, but when that did not
happen, Pakistan also stepped into the war on terror, the result of which
proved to be very dangerous for Pakistan.
Since 2004, US drone strikes have been
launched in Pakistan with the aim of killing terrorists, but they have killed
thousands of Pakistanis. From 2004 to 2015, 522 drone strikes were carried out
in Pakistan in which more than 4000 people were killed. As a result of these
attacks, terrorism also spread in Pakistan. For a while, every citizen of
Pakistan was terrified, but then the Pakistan Army eradicated terrorism through
operations like Zarb-e-Azb. In May 2011, the United States conducted an
operation in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad in which, according to the United
States, Osama bin Laden was captured and killed. US President Barack Obama said
that this operation was carried out without the permission of Pakistan.
Pakistan has lost thousands of lives in the war on terror since 2001.
Donald Trump also did not create any
facilities for Pakistan but created difficulties for Pakistanis living in the
United States. There were also barriers to visas for students going for higher
education. The United States has always supported India in the Kashmir issue,
and the United States has a big problem with the C-Pac project because it would
be beneficial for China and Pakistan.
All these events of history prove that the United States is a self-interested state which has used Pakistan in all its wars while remaining neutral in every war of Pakistan. Pakistan suffered the most in the war on terror. Pakistan had to give the most lives. If Pakistan had not sided with the United States in this war, the United States could never have succeeded.
Keywords: benazir, bhutto, cpec, dictator, Gen Parvez Musharraf, history, India, kashmir, love, pakistan, usa, zia ul haq, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto,