Muhammad Haroon
US Trade policy caused considerable controversy, over a quarter of a hundred of the individuals and companies have been sanctioned by the US for purported support of weapons and drone programs in Pakistan and Iran, as well as for assistance to Russia’s military operation in Ukraine. Despite US explanations of such activities in matters of national security, these steps point to a direction of geopolitical hypocrisy that might have potentially dangerous consequences for Pakistan’s military power and the cooperation between the two countries.
The US handles trade and defense issues differently for different countries. For example, countries like Israel and India, which have strong military and defense sectors, are benefactors of many of the services the US offers, provided they are approved to access high-tech products. On the contrary, every effort made by Pakistan to strengthen its self-defense structure is viewed with mistrust, and provocation is inflicted. Such selective scrutiny of defense initiatives feeds an inequitable security narrative that erodes confidence and collaboration, let alone in a complex security environment.
When Pakistani entities are blacklisted, the consequence of these actions is far reaching. It dramatically limits Pakistan’s technological and industrial progress deeply affecting its potential to improve its defense and sustain a domestically produced military. For Pakistan, aimed at military programs are not just a desire to increase the degree of the arsenals; it is to safeguard itself from real threats internal and external threats, More so given the region’s instability. Subverting Pakistan’s true defense needs, the U.S. continues to perpetrate Pakistan into a state of reliance on external powers for defense needs thereby violating its sovereignty.
However, this blacking list is a recipe for creating unnecessary tension in the still-precarious relationship between the US and Pakistan. Originally, Pakistan has been a strategic partner for the US in the war against terrorism and the stabilization process of the instability-plagued area. Such actions convey a message more negative than the other – it tells Pakistan that the country and the sacrifices made by it are unwanted and disregarded. It may spur strategies of negativity and low involvement and pull back from joint solutions to shared security problems. While those penalties demotivate cooperation, they isolate Pakistan and force it to seek other partnerships that may prove to be perilous for the US’ goals in South Asia.
The fact of the matter is that Pakistan is being threatened with real external security threats hence the need for a proper defense strategy. Missile as well as defense technology in the country are intended to deter rival countries in the region and protect the sovereign state. However, regrettably, through ‘Pakistan’s defense posturing’ lens, the United States frequently fails to see this real requirement and instead views it as an assertive act. By not appreciating the various factors constituting the security situation in Pakistan, the US may not accurately estimate the significance of South Asia for itself.
Moreover, while the blacklisting of Pakistan isolates it, the same policy of the U.S. also opens a space that other countries particularly China are only too willing to occupy. Pakistan is moving to look for other partners to cooperate in the defense sector especially the ones ready to work on military supplies, technologies, and equipment – U.S. refereed influence in the region is fading. Indeed, China has waded deep into Pakistan’s defense market, and further exclusion of the US may deepen this relationship and might result in a strategic partnership against the US interests.
However, based on all these factors of dynamism, this means that the US should reconsider its operations. Instead of using blacklisting and sanctions against who, the US should use diplomacy and cooperation with whom realizing the special security concerns of Pakistan. In this way, the US can balance the relationship meet mutual goals for both parties, and eliminate the existential threats that currently dominate the business relationship.
Thus, the US has an opportunity to demonstrate to other member states and international partners how multilateralism in the security of the region should be realized without excluding dialogue and mutual understanding. It presupposes understanding the legitimate security concerns of Pakistan and, at the same time, promoting the path of openness and efficiency in the defense sphere. The U.S. should engage constructively in diplomacy and security in South Asia to obtain a positive outcome of stability in the region and increase its power in the region.
Therefore, the recent action of black-listing Pakistani entities falls in the category of more than just trade policy it is a political move, or one may claim that it is another example of double standards in American foreign policy. To Pakistan, these actions present quite a problem when it comes to its defense development and possibly anger a country that has been of much importance to it in the past. On the contrary, the US should maximize diplomatic calibration with the country and acknowledge the legitimate security concerns of Pakistan. Only combined action will allow both nations to strive for further stabilization in the mutual relations for the sake of their common benefit.
*The writer is Islamabad based contributor
*The views expressed in this article are solely reflect the point of view of the author and does not reflect the position of the Global News Pakistan
