Pak Us Relations

United States of America remains one of the first countries to have

established diplomatic ties with Pakistan. Although the relationship dates
back to October 20, 1947, it can be extrapolated that the relations have been
based strictly on military and economic support.
During the initial years of Pakistan, the country had the options of building
allegiance with Soviet Union or United States, however, Pakistan opted for the
latter.

1950-1953: Pakistan’s first prime minister, Liaquat Ali Khan visited United
States to meet president Harry S Truman. It is alleged that during PM Khan’s
first visit to US, president Truman requested Pakistan’s premier to let the
CIA formulate a base in Pakistan, strictly to keep an eye on the activities of
Soviet Union—a request which was not granted by Khan.
Throughout the course of these years many officials from Pakistan such as
commander-in-chief Ayub Khan, foreign minister Zafrullah Khan, foreign
secretary Ikramullah, finance minister Ghulam Muhammad, defence secretary
Sikander Mirza and special envoy Mir Laiq Ali visited US, aiming to receive
financial aids from the country.

1954: Pakistan signed Mutual Defense Assistance Agreement with the United
States in May. Under the agreement, many Pakistani soldiers went to United
States for training whereas US also established a Military Assistance Advisory
Group (Maag) in Rawalpindi.
1956: President Dwight Eisenhower requested prime minister Suhrawardy to
lease Peshawar Air Station to the American Army for keeping an eye on soviet
Union and its ballistic missile programme. The request was granted by the
prime minister.

Ayub Khan Era:

1960s: During the decade, the pro-American sentiments in Western side of
Pakistan were at an all time high. However, the military and financial
assistance was directed more towards West Pakistan, which caused an uproar and
feeling of distrust in East Pakistan.
Ayub Khan allowed United States to fly spy mission to Soviet Union from
Pakistan’s territory and accompanied by his daughter visited United States of
America.
United States increased the amount of aid Pakistan was designated to receive
from the consortium of Pakistan, half a billion dollars of which were lost in
1965’s Indo-Pakistan war—war staged to cause a rebel in Indian occupied
Kashmir. The war also led US to place economical and military embargoes on
Pakistan, which resulted in an economic collapse.

1971 war and US:

Being an important ally for US during the cold war, United States supported
Pakistan, despite the arms embargo. Pakistan also assisted president Richard
Nixon in making his first visit to Peoples’ Republic of China.
During 1971’s war, US is speculated to have provided Pakistan with arms and
military aid, in order to discourage India from penetrating further into the
cities of Pakistan because losing Pakistan meant losing an important ally in
the soviet war.
Moreover, as per the elections result, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was elected as the
president of Pakistan and later on became the prime minister in 1974.
Although Bhutto was considered a socialist, he was a close and respected
friend of president Nixon, which went in Pakistan’s favour.
1976-1979: President Jimmy Carter, an anti-socialist, won the presidential
election of US and announced to seek a ban on nuclear weapons.
Bhutto lost the favours he enjoyed whilst Nixon was US president as Carter did
not appreciate his policies and tightened already placed embargoes on
Pakistan. However, Bhutto managed to procure items to enhance his atomic bomb
project. President Carter and his administration allegedly threatened Bhutto
to disrupt the process of atomic proliferation and research to which the
latter did not agree, leading to his differences with the Americans.
Zia era:
During Zia ul Haq’s regime, Pakistan and United States enjoyed a warm and
congenial relationship, which was primarily based on military ties and
advancements. During the decade, US, along with CIA and ISI, launched billions
of dollars worth of operations to prevent Soviet forces from further advancing
into the region.
It is during this period that United States granted billions of dollars to
Pakistan in the name of military and economical aid. By the year 1981,
Pakistan was discussing a $3.2-billion aid package with United States and in
1987 Pakistan became the second largest recipient of aid after Israel.
However, by the end of General Zia’s regime, Congress adopted Pressler
amendment. The amendment banned major military and economical aid to Pakistan
unless the state was able to justify and provide sufficient evidence that the
funds are not being used for nuclear proliferation.
However it is alleged that although Pakistan disclosed that it could enrich
uranium and assemble a nuclear device in 1984 and 1987 respectively, the
sanctions were not imposed till 1990.

Relations after soviet withdraw:

US, under the Pressler amendment, imposed sanctions on Pakistan, as the
country by then had lost its strategic importance in soviet war.
1992: The relations between US and Pakistan plummeted further when US
ambassador Nicholas Platt, warned Pakistan of being included into state
sponsors of terrorism list, in case it continued to support militants causing
trouble in India.
1995: Benazir Bhutto visited United States and requested president Bill
Clinton to lift the embargoes on Pakistan and launch a joint operation to
eradicate militancy from the region. As a reaction to Bhutto’s proposal, Brown
amendment, which provided for the delivery of $368 million of military
equipment purchased but not received by Pakistan before the imposition of
Pressler amendment sanctions in 1990, was passed; however, the sanctions on
arms were not lifted.

Nuclear tests:
Prime minister Nawaz Sharif conducted nuclear test in Balochistan, in
retaliation to similar tests conducted by India, which invited the wrath of
Clinton’s administration on both the countries. President Clinton imposed
sanctions under Glenn amendment on India as well as Pakistan.
Glenn amendment included suspension of aid, including economic development
assistance, credits and credit guarantees by the US government, US bank loans
to the governments of India and Pakistan, loans from international financial
institutions, such as the IMF and World Bank, and exports of dual-use nuclear
or missile items.
However, in July of 1998, US lifted the sanctions on both the countries for
purchasing agricultural products from US farmers. Later in the year President
Clinton exercised his waiver on lifting restrictions on the activities of US
banks in Pakistan.
9/11 attacks:
After the 9/11 attacks and US’s invasion in various countries to eradicate
militancy, Pakistan became one of the most important strategic allies for
United States.
Initially Pakistan tried to strike a negotiation deal with Taliban and al
Qaeda members to handover Osama bin Laden to American authorities. However,
when negotiations failed, Pakistan allowed American army to use its military
bases for launching attacks on Afghan soil.
However, President Pervez Musharraf confessed that the country had no option
but to support United States as it had threatened Pakistan of “bombing it into
stone age” if it did not join the fight against al Qaeda.
Simultaneously in 2001, US officials introduced a bill to lift all the
sanctions, previously imposed on Pakistan under Pressler and Glenn amendments.