If proof was still needed of the dysfunctional nature of the US-Pakistan relationship, we have had a great deal of it in the past two days, both in the form of unseemly spat on Twitter between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Imran Khan, and Washington’s reiteration of the suspension of $1.6 billion in security aid for Islamabad.
Over the weekend, Mr Trump again excoriated Pakistan for failing to act against al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and for not doing a “damn thing” for the US after receiving billions of dollars in aid. Mr Trump’s remarks were part of his criticism of Admiral William McRaven, the Navy SEAL commander who oversaw the raid that resulted in bin Laden’s killing in Pakistan. But it soon led to a very public row with Mr Khan, who responded on Twitter, saying that the US should make a realistic assessment of why the Taliban are stronger than before and not make Pakistan the scapegoat for its failures in Afghanistan.
Mr Trump hit back by ruling out further aid, which was followed by Mr Khan’s terse rejoinder that Pakistan will do what is best for its interests in the face of the American leader’s “false assertions”. This was followed by a US spokesman highlighting the denial of security aid since the beginning of the year.
Over past decades, Pakistan’s civilian and military leaders have turned a blind eye to activities of “friendly” jihadis while accepting billions of dollars in aid from the US, including funds meant to be used to target some of those same terrorists. The US is not without fault either. For years, it ignored warnings from countries such as India about terror groups operating from Pakistani soil. But it is also clear that Mr Trump’s tough stance, including the suspension of security aid and repeated calls for Pakistan to crack down on terrorists, hasn’t had the desired effect on Mr Khan’s government, which enjoys the complete backing of the military.
{{/usCountry}}Over past decades, Pakistan’s civilian and military leaders have turned a blind eye to activities of “friendly” jihadis while accepting billions of dollars in aid from the US, including funds meant to be used to target some of those same terrorists. The US is not without fault either. For years, it ignored warnings from countries such as India about terror groups operating from Pakistani soil. But it is also clear that Mr Trump’s tough stance, including the suspension of security aid and repeated calls for Pakistan to crack down on terrorists, hasn’t had the desired effect on Mr Khan’s government, which enjoys the complete backing of the military.
{{/usCountry}}Mr Trump is a pioneer of diplomacy by Twitter, but badly composed messages with poor punctuation within the platform’s 280-character limit are hardly the way for leaders of two important countries to address their serious problems and differences. Such public spats as the one between Mr Trump and Mr Khan can only point to more trouble for the bilateral relationship in the year ahead, something that will have significant ramifications for the so-called peace process in Afghanistan that the US is trying to put together by reaching out to the already emboldened Taliban.