Indeed, the failure of Pakistan to allocate its funds properly so far has led to some significant shortcomings in Pakistan’s anti-terrorism efforts, including its 80,000-strong Frontier Corps—the paramilitary force responsible for fight terrorists—which remains ill equipped, underfunded and poorly trained on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
Meanwhile, as US Defence Department documents accessed by the Press Trust of India last year indicate, Pakistan has diverted billions of dollars of US aid, supposedly meant for fighting such terrorists, to beefing up its military along the border with India.
The argument put forward by Pakistan and its supporters is that if India wants long-term normal relations, then it shouldn’t object to the US providing arms and ammunition, as doing so is no different to India investing in conventional arms.
But this argument is baseless. India’s security requirements are hugely different from Pakistan’s, with India having long borders with Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Burma, as well as a 6000-kilometre coastline.
US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake reassured India during his recent visit to New Delhi that US arms supplied to Pakistan would only be used by it on the Pakistan-Afghan border, and he added that the Pakistani government needs strengthening so that it can fight Lashkar-e-Toiba, which has risen to become a significant and potentially global terrorist threat.
But former Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf himself has admitted that US military assistance given to Pakistan during his time in office was used to strengthen defences against India, and he is on record as stating that the financial aid was utilized for transporting troops, arms and ammunition from the Pakistan-Afghan border to the Indian border.
In another interview with a Pakistani TV station, Musharraf ‘clarified’ his remarks, saying that aid would be used depending on the needs for ensuring his country’s security. He suggested that if the threat is perceived as coming from al-Qaeda or the Taliban, then US aid will be used against them. But what if the perceived threat is from India?
Pakistani Foreign Office officials have dismissed any such apprehensions and instead contend that India’s massive militarization is a threat to regional security while Pakistan’s procurement is merely for self-defence.
However Gen. Musharraf has failed to mention, for obvious reasons, that US military aid actually emboldens Pakistan’s rulers to consider action against India, a troubling point when there’s a history of arms and ammunition sold by the US to Pakistan ultimately being used against India.
For example, during the Cold War era, the United States supplied arms to Pakistan as part of its fight against communism, yet Patton tanks, F-86 Sabre jets, F-104 Starfighters and a range of other military hardware ended up being used against India.
It’s clear to policymakers in New Delhi that Washington has failed to receive strategic dividends commensurate to the significant financial assistance that it has handed to Pakistan, whether it be in terms of effective co-operation on counter-terrorism efforts or Pakistani public opinion (recent polls in the Urdu press, an important source for understanding Pakistani public opinion, suggested the United States is still the most hated country among Pakistanis). And the attack on the US consulate in Peshawar earlier this month, meanwhile, was yet another reminder that the United States’ presence is under perpetual challenge in Pakistan.
It remains unclear how many reality checks the United States will need before it starts rethinking its aid policies.
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ABBY
IF YOU ASK A COMAN MAN IN PAKISTAN ABOUT USA,80% DO NOT LIKE USA AS A FRIEND OF PAKISTAN.REMAINING 20% LIKE USA ONLY FOR GREEN CARD!!!!!!!!WHY?
AMERICAN HELP OR AID IS THE MONEY FOR KILLING PAKISTANI PEOPLE BY THEIR OWN(PAKISTANI)ARMY.
ON THE OTHER COMUNIST COUNTRIES SUCH AS SOVIET UINION,CHINA ETC HELP TO BUILD SOME INDUSTRIES WHERE COMON PEOPLE WORKS AND NEUCLEAR POWER STATIONS FOR ELECTRICITY.USA AID IS TO KILL PEOPLE OR F16 PLANE OR ARMY PAY ROLE.WHAT TO DO WITH DEMOCRACY? MUSHARAF,KEYANI,ZIA UL HAQ ARE GOOD FRIENDS OF USA.!!!!!!!!
IN PAKISTAN DEMOCRACY IS A JOKE!DEMOCRATIC LEADERS ARE JOKERS OF USA.THEY ARE KILLING THEIR OWN CITIZEN FOR USA AID!!!!!!!!!!