The United States has followed a policy that they call “De-hyphenated” when it comes to their relationship with India and Pakistan. India may also follow a similar policy with respect to Israel and Palestine, but we have a long history of adhering to a Non-Alignment Policy ever since we got independence. The US has been known to take definite sides. These past few decades, India remained a growing force, and the US went out of its way to forge a friendship with Pakistan. To a layman, this may seem strange and we have wondered why would a non-Muslim country from the developed world help one that has been sponsoring terrorism since its birth in 1947. The US has had its reasons, however weak and duplicitous they may seem.
India’s contribution in World Wars 1 & 2, though significant, remained muted. We were a British colony back then and fought for the empire. The soldiers that fought and lost their lives did so for the Crown. They received a poor thank you and no benefits. The promised freedom was not granted and India remained ignored by the Allied Powers. This ignorance towards the needs of India remained deep-rooted and continued for decades thereafter. India focused internally after independence and tackled poverty, diseases, job insecurity, inflation, strife, communal violence and Pakistan-sponsored terrorism on an ongoing basis. We followed a policy of non-alignment in International disputes, remained non-assertive and shy as a country focusing on individual academic and monetary achievements abroad, yet always delivering promised help to neighbouring countries in whatever way possible, including help to Afghanistan.
India has always remained a close ally to Russia or USSR as it was called back in the day and this remains a thorn in the side of the US. The British had left India so broken, impoverished and in shambles that we had no choice but to focus inward. The challenges we have faced over the years have been unprecedented and diverse, and most of the Western world has little to no understanding of how much we have overcome. Till very recently, India has continued to be taken for granted. The West has consistently remained elitist, ignorant, and racist. This did not help our goals nor further our cause within Asia. Our support for Russia during the Cold War strengthened our relationship with the country but did not help matters with respect to the US. Therefore, the US supported Pakistan during the Cold War and even through the Indo-Pak War of 1971. The Taliban is a popular child of that love affair which later came back to bite the US.
The biggest mystery of all is that the US seem to have learned little from their mistake of giving birth and power to the Taliban, seeing how that strategy backfired. After 9/11, the US strengthened its security and bolstered its borders so that terrorist encounters could be kept at bay. Other countries like India could not always protect itself from radical elements such as the Taliban and other such groups in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
It’s almost as if the US doesn’t seem to care that the aid they give to Pakistan is diverted to anti-India activities. It’s like we throw bits of food to stray or wild animals to lead them in a certain direction. The problem here is the US no longer knows where to lead Pakistan and without these bits, Pakistan would only stray more and do further harm to itself and the world at large.
The question for the world and especially India is — is a strong Pakistan any better for India than a weak strife, torn one? Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want people anywhere in the world to suffer but neither do I want India’s security undermined, our borders threatened and our armed forces in peril.
More recently, despite being Quad partners, India and the US have been at loggerheads because the US supplied F-16 jets to Pakistan, especially after Pakistan used these aircrafts in blatant attacks on India despite the contract with the US outlining that the aircrafts are to be used only in self-defence or anti-terror operations. The world knew Pakistan would never stick to such an agreement and unfortunately, we didn’t even expect the US to punish Pakistan like it would have done to any other nation that undermined contractual obligations. It was also no surprise that a juggernaut like Lockheed Martin would want to keep the shooting down of its aircraft by an Indian MiG under wraps and would pay huge sums to cover it up. It is really a sad narrative on India-US relations.
To date, Pakistan has received 22 bailout packages and loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). We know that the US is the IMF’s largest shareholder. It seems to bother little to the Pakistani leaders and population that it has always remained a dependent state with its current policies and an alternate route of focusing on democratic process, peace and economy could have led to a very different life for its people.
Pakistan’s strategic importance to China’s geopolitical interests has not gone unnoticed. If Sri Lanka and Pakistan both are in China’s debt, have deep-rooted corruption and suffered a political and economic crisis, why does Pakistan receive foreign aid and not Sri Lanka? It is clear that the US does not want Pakistan to become China’s best friend in South Asia. Pakistan’s leaders prefer a dictatorial regime with power in the hands of very few people. The country’s people have no voice, it is not a strong economic player like India, and constantly seeks external aid and bailouts.
The US wants to keep Pakistan dependent. Keep it weak. And they have got an ally to keep the strong economies of Asia in check, primarily India. The US also understands that to make sure Pakistan does not swerve too close to China, it needs to keep Pakistan close. Hopefully, the US is keeping track of the anti-American sentiment growing in Pakistan along with the existing anti-India and anti-Israel sentiments. The US-China-Pakistan situation is much like the story of two fighting cats and a monkey where Pakistan (the monkey) will benefit in the fight for global dominance between the US and China. China also invested massively in Pakistan to build a network for its own trade routes and strategic interests, which reportedly has failed. Not to mention they too wanted to keep India in check.
Our Foreign Minister has recently said that the US’ actions fool no one. It is true that India is now a stronger economic and military power than before and will not be taken for granted. We know and believe and hope the US realises that its policy of constant aid and bailouts to Pakistan is not sustainable to any country and if it continues to ignore how it is indirectly financing terror activities in India and its other friends, it may risk losing trusted allies such as Israel too.
Unfortunately, we have little hope that Pakistan will take offence to being used as merely a tool in the geopolitics of the region. It will continue to stay weak, be exploited by other powers, and continue to trouble India whenever the opportunity arises. Knowing that Pakistan is unlikely to grow out of this mindset, India will have to project a firmer stance, voice its objections more aggressively and stand guard. Thanks to the US, I expect the situation with Pakistan to worsen.
The author advises companies enrolled in the Seed program, a Stanford Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies Program, that partners with entrepreneurs in emerging markets to build thriving enterprises that transform lives. Views expressed are personal.
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