ISSUE 183 : Nov/Dec - 2010 - Australian Defence Force Journal

Pakistan-US bilateral relations: a difficultroad aheadDr Claude Rakisits, Deakin University (and Centre for Defence and StrategicStudies, Australian Defence College)IntroductionIn the wake of the catastrophic floods in Pakistan from July to September 2010, US relationswith Pakistan have once again come to the fore. Because these floods have destroyed so muchof the country’s infrastructure—such as roads, bridges, power lines, schools, hospitals anddikes—only the US has the economic clout to be able to contribute significantly to the longtermreconstruction of the country which Pakistani Prime Minister Gilani has estimated willcost about US$45 billion. 1Unfortunately, since Pakistan’s independence in 1947, relations between Pakistan and the UShave often been prickly or difficult, certainly never warm and more often simply neglected.However, more importantly, Pakistan has always been overshadowed by neighbouring India,which is much bigger and has always been democratic. The fact that India during the ColdWar was a leader of the Non-Alignment Movement and in 1971 even signed a 20-year ‘Treatyof Peace and Friendship and Cooperation’ with the Soviet Union did not seem to put Pakistanin a more favourable light vis-à-vis the US. And, on the whole, it has only been when Pakistancould play a strategic role in support of Washington’s broader international interests that thelatter has paid closer attention to the relationship.The fall-out of these floods, which have hit Pakistan with such devastating destruction, may wellbe the opportunity for the US and Pakistan to build in a meaningful way a bilateral relationshipwhich has been suffering what US Secretary of State calls a ‘trust deficit’. 2 However, as will beexamined in this article, there is a lot of baggage that has accumulated since the two countriesestablished diplomatic relations almost 65 years ago. It will take a lot of work on the part ofboth countries to fix that and move the relationship forward.It will be argued that while the road to rebuilding this trust will be long and difficult, the USGovernment has no option but to do all it can to continue working hard on improving thebilateral relationship. It is not only in both countries’ interests to do so but also in the interestof the region, particularly Afghanistan and India, and the wider international community.1947–2001: a relationship with many lows, few highsProbably the single most important factor that explains this difficult bilateral relationshipis that Pakistan and the US entered the bilateral relationship for different reasons. Pakistanjoined the US-led alliance—namely signing in 1954 the Mutual Defence Assistance Agreementand in 1959 the Bilateral Agreement of Cooperation, as well as joining in 1954 the South EastAsia Treaty Organisation (SEATO) and one year later the Central Treaty Organisation (CENTO)—as an insurance policy in its confrontation with India, in the hope that the US would give itmilitary support in case of war with its much larger neighbour. 317