Love, Sex and Dhokha

I’m a big fan of Dibakar Bannerjee. The way he propagates his ideas is truly novel though all his movie characters could easily be seen walking on street sides, travelling in buses, trading in markets etc. He has earned himself an image of trend setter in bollywood. One can expect unseen from his films but LSD seems to have an adapted screenplay. Love, sex and dhokha all three are the basic ingredients of US-Pakistan relationship. Their love begun in early 1950’s with the Washington visit of then PM of Pakistan Liaqat Ali Khan. This was an era when both India and Pak were laying foundations of their foreign policies. It’s always easy for a Pakistani foreign policy maker to take decision, the golden rule is simply follow the path opposite to the one adopted by India. During the cold war when the big brother decided to stay non-aligned the younger followed a pro western policy. US-Pak were engaged in a relationship by the time SEATO and CENTO were signed in mid 50’s. US had already committed to a Mutual defence agreement with Pak. It termed Pak as its ‘most allied ally’ in south Asia and the exchange of cards and letters became the order of day. They were in love but yet not ready for intercourse. Next few years were stagnant as US was engaged in evolving latest cold war tactics to stop Soviets in its track. Two decades old relationship then hit an all time low during the Indo-Pak war 1965 when US terminated the military assistance to Pak. This was for the first time the Islamic state tasted the ‘dhokha’ from its partner. There was simply no reason for US to continue aid Pak. Though USA was against the very sense of liberating Bangladesh but the Americans knew that any military action against India would led them to confrontation with USSR. They adopted the policy of wait and watch and finally ended up as a mere audience of Indira’s show. Yet another ‘dhokha’ from the beloved lover. US formed CENTO to check any south west expansion of Soviet Union. Pak was its prominent partner but the idea collapsed with the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Soon things turned around when USSR invaded Afghanistan in Dec 1979 and US was dying to put breaks on the Soviet’s intentions. USA was in dying need of some soil in South Asia to counter Russians and Pakistan was its but obvious choice. Time has come for a pet to pay its master. This was the beginning of a new chapter titled “Kamasutra” in the US-Pak relationship. US with the help of ISI provided arms, training, intelligence and financial aid to Mujahideens in order to throw out Soviets from the land of Afghans and it indeed happened. The Russians pulled out their forces in 1988 and by that time Pakistan had gone richer by many billion dollars but the saga of their first night didn’t last long. In 1990, Clinton administration cut off military aid to Pak on the issue of nuclear proliferation. In May, 1998, India conducted nuclear tests to prove its strength to the world. Pak had no choice left except for retaliating back by conducting its own test. That fusion reaction deepened the fission between the future ‘strategic partners’. The furious west this time put some serious sanctions on both India and Pak. While India still backed upon its intimacy with Russia and other developing countries, US-Pak relations were going nowhere. All credit then goes to Al Qaeda and the Taliban for creating the conditions which were impossible pre 9/11. They rejuvenated two lovers and fixed their marriage. Pak army along with NATO forces cracked heavily on Taliban and fundamentalists. Sometimes they often found themselves perplexed as if they were fighting against their own people. After almost a decade of war both nations seems to have lost more than gain from the “war on terror”.
2010: USA is now finding it difficult to sustain war on two fronts. Pakistan’s economy is drowning each day with the growing threat of Taliban. Though Obama reinforced the lost belief that war can be won but the ground reports are negative. Recently US-Pak shared a strategic dialogue where US committed to triple its military aid to Pak to reach up to 1.5b$ per year for the next 10 years. No one knows where this money will go and what’ll be the future of the region but one thing is sure US’s commitment for the next 10 yrs shows there is still plenty of time left for the world to witness yet another ‘dhokha’ in this formidable love story. It’s upon Pak to make the most of it, to reconstruct their country before the region is stabilized and Uncle Sam is gone. By the way, 5 star to Bannerjee for his work.