*ISLAMABAD*: A top Pakistani government official argues that the crisis inrelations with the United States stems from Washington’s focus on militarypartnership rather than engaging Pakistan as a democracy and addressingmutual concerns, reported *Voice of Americalink>*.
In an exclusive interview, Defence Minister Khurram Dastgir tells *VOA,* thatas a consequence, Islamabad’s ties, have massively deepened withtraditional ally China, and intense re-engagements are also bringingPakistan closer to Russia.
Pakistan, a major recipient of military assistance as a non-NATO US ally inthe now 17-year-old war in Afghanistan, has been repeatedly criticised forits alleged support for the Taliban and Haqqani Network carrying outattacks on international and Afghan forces.
In January, US President Donald Trump suspended military assistance toIslamabad on the grounds that the US had received “nothing but lies anddeceit” in return. That withering attack has plunged a traditionally rollercoaster bilateral relationship to historic lows.
“We are still very serious in maintaining our engagement with the UnitedStates…Unfortunately, the Trump administration has chosen to focus on thetransactional part of the relationship,” Dastgir said while referring to USmilitary assistance for counterterrorism operations.
A renewed diplomatic re-engagement with Pakistan has been underway sinceTrump suspended the aid but it has yet to produce desired results on theground in terms of eliminating sanctuaries inside Pakistan, say USofficials.
Dastgir says despite US adverse actions, Pakistan has not “impeded orblocked” its ground and airlines of communications being used for ferryingvital supplies to international troops in Afghanistan. But he asked whethera productive partnership with the US is still possible under thecircumstances.
“You can’t have a country whom you would accuse of being deceitful andsimultaneously being a major non-NATO ally. So, the contradictions in 2018have become too large,” noted the Pakistani minister.
Dastgir rejected allegations as “illogical” that Pakistan harbours “safehavens” and cited the US military’s latest assessments that the Talibancontrols or contests a large chunk of the Afghan territory.
“[Nearly] half of the country is a safe haven but your [US] focus is onremnants in Pakistan…When you don’t control 45 per cent of Afghanistan anddon’t know what is going on there, who is there, who is moving in and outof that safe haven, but you keep blaming us,” he lamented.
Pakistan maintains that years of counterterrorism operations have clearedits land of all terrorist groups and in the process the country sufferedmore than the US, with tens of thousands of casualties caused byretaliatory militant bombings.
Moreover, officials insist persistent security concerns scared awaymuch-needed foreign investment for overcoming a crippling energy crisis inPakistan and inflicted billions of dollars in economic losses.
“That was the time when Pakistan’s democracy needed consolidation and itwas at that time that the US chose to begin pulling away,” Dastgir said ofthe year 2013 when his Pakistan Muslim League party won the elections andtook power.
The quantum of US military and economic aid had become “insignificant” bythe time 2018 rolled around, he said, and explained why China has sinceincreased its influence in Pakistan.
“China acted first and Pakistan needed support very seriously andgrievously. Now that we have it five years later, we have nearly resolvedthe energy crisis, we have nearly resolved the terrorism crisis. So, nowthat people of Pakistan and the government of Pakistan, which representsthe people, look back, we see China as standing with us and the US isconstantly receding.”
Beijing has invested billions of dollars in the last three years under amassive cooperation deal with Islamabad, known as China-Pakistan EconomicCooperation, or CPEC. China is building infrastructure projects and powerplants under CPEC.
The unprecedented Chinese investment will have added 12,000 additionalmegawatts of electricity in the national grid by June this year,effectively overcoming the country’s once crippling energy crisis.
Minister Dastgir called for the US to revisit its Pakistan approach for astable and productive partnership.
“The US has not made, in our view, a serious effort to engage Pakistan as ademocracy, and a democracy which has an elected government,” he insisted.
It is widely perceived that the powerful Pakistan military directlyinfluences the foreign policy decision-making process when it comes todealing with the US, Afghanistan and archrival India.
“Yes, the [Pakistan] military has its own influence and its own operations.But if this relationship is to become long-lasting, if this relationshiphas to have firm basis it has now to become no longer amilitary-to-military relationship, which it currently is. It has to becomea relationship between two democracies. That is the way forward,” assertedthe Pakistani defence minister.