Following the lead of the National Security Committee, on Thursday the cabinet gave a measured response to US President Donald Trump’s tweet threatening to cut off aid to Pakistan. The cabinet expressed its disappointment at the tweet and said it would have an adverse effect on relations between the two countries but did not respond in the same kind of incendiary rhetoric as Trump. A couple of days earlier, PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif had also detailed just how misguided the tweet was, pointing out that half of the supposed aid we receive is actually repayment for services rendered in the fight against militancy through the Coalition Support Fund. He advised the prime minister to end Pakistan’s reliance on US aid, something Nawaz himself pursued through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and new alliances with countries like Russia and Turkey. Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif, in an interview with Geo, was more critical of what he called ‘a friend that betrays’. Still, our relatively temperate response – even keeping Khawaja Asif’s statements in mind – seems to have had little effect on the US. There are reports that the Trump administration is going to ask Congress to cut assistance to Pakistan. This is in keeping with the general attitude of this US presidency, where foreign nations – predominantly Muslim – are seen as taking US money and doing nothing in return. After his Pakistan tweet, President Trump also made a similar remark about Palestine and has even condemned the loosening of sanctions on Iran under the nuclear deal negotiated during the tenure of Barack Obama.
Should the US follow through on its threats to cut security assistance and repayments, it will only be hurting itself. The ISPR has pointed out that Pakistan has taken on militant groups such as the Haqqani Network but that it takes time for the results of such operations to show themselves. Any cut in aid will obviously affect these operations. At the same time, Pakistan also needs to consider why accusations of supporting militancy are constantly levelled against the country. Without adopting the undiplomatic tone that is Trump’s hallmark, previous US administrations and other countries have also expressed doubts about Pakistan’s willingness to take on the likes of the Afghan Taliban and Haqqani Network. Past policies and some lack of focus on a few militant groups may be the reason behind such scepticism abroad. That may also be because Pakistan has been focused on the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and its allies since they pose the greater threat to us. This, though, is taken as a failure to counter militant action. This is why, along with defending ourselves against Trump’s unjustified tirade, we may also want to pause for some introspection.