Terming US Pakistan’s friend not fair: Sethi

LAHORE: Najam Sethi on Sunday said it wasn’t fair on the part of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to describe the United States as a friend of Pakistan, as it had been constantly pressing Pakistan to “do more”.
The US, he said, always looked after its interests, while Pakistan tended to take things in the shape of friendship. The US had caused serious damage to Pakistan and did not extend any help in the 1971 Pak-India war, he said during Geo News programme ‘Aapas ki Baat’.
According to the famous political analyst, the US used Pakistan to fight the Afghan war against communism in 1980s while leaving the rubbish behind, the consequences of which Pakistan is facing even today. The US is a friend, threatening to withhold the payment of $300 million and, in the past, consumed the money paid for F-16 fighter jets.
It is a friend that is always exerting pressure to roll back the nuclear programme. It is a friend that supports the military governments and dislikes the civilians. Pakistan’s military governments and the US have always cooperated with each other on the basis of their respective interests.
Sethi said like the successes during the prime minister’s visit, there were also some failures. The United States would not say a single word to New Delhi about Pakistan’s complaint regarding the Indian interference because of the US-India romance, he added.
According to Sethi, Pakistan has told the US that keeping the nuclear weapons is necessary for the country’s security amid the current tension with India. These things would not be required, if India changes its attitude. The US is not ready to enter into a civil-nuclear deal with Pakistan like the one it has with India. The announcement made by Pakistan in the joint statement regarding taking action against the LeT and affiliates was included on the US insistence.
Sethi said it was expected that the Pak-US relations would take a nosedive during the prime minister’s visit, but it

didn’t happen. Washington had not only expressed its willingness to sell eight F-16 fighter jets but would also disburse $300 million to Pakistan under the Coalition Support Fund, he added.
Sethi said President Obama was making efforts to resolve the Afghanistan problem before the end of his tenure. The US wanted Pakistan to somehow bring the Taliban to the negotiating table with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani so that the civil could end in the next two years, thus making the withdrawal of US troops possible, he added.
According to Sethi, the prime minister has made it clear to the US that it is a delusion that Pakistan would bomb the Haqqani network or push it into Afghanistan. Pakistan cannot make the Afghan Taliban to talk with the Ghani government and take action against them simultaneously.
In contrast, the US is of the opinion that Pakistan should weaken the Afghan Taliban first so that they could be brought to the negotiating table.
Pakistan now really wants to make the Afghan Taliban hold talks because Afghanistan would weaken, if it doesn’t happen. It would also further worsen the Pak-US ties, creating multiple problems for Pakistan. The US, the Ghani government and Afghan National Army have failed in Afghanistan.