Pakistan has changed from the “most sanctioned American ally” to the “most bullied ally” of the US, Kayani conceded at an off-the-record news briefing in Islamabad on Sunday.
A day after whistleblowing website WikiLeaks exposed tensions between the US and Islamabad over nuclear matters, Pakistan army chief general Ashfaq Parvez Kayani spoke about the changing equations between the two countries.
Pakistan has changed from the “most sanctioned American ally” to the “most bullied ally” of the US, Kayani conceded at an off-the-record news briefing in Islamabad on Sunday.
Though Kayani’s comments were made on the condition of anonymity, some Pakistani newspapers made it obvious that they were made by the country’s army chief. The news briefing coincided with Kayani starting his second three-year tenure as army chief.
Detailing frank exchanges between the uppermost echelons of the country’s military and the Barack Obama administration, Kayani reportedly listed a catalogue of complaints the Pakistanis have against the US.
These include: the US still has a ‘transactional’ relationship with Pakistan; America is interested in perpetuating a state of ‘controlled chaos’ in the country; and, perhaps most explosively given the WikiLeaks’ revelations on Sunday, the “real aim of US strategy is to de-nuclearise Pakistan”.
Kayani claimed that the dichotomy between short-term US interests and long-term Pakistani security interests needs to be kept in mind at all times. “I see difficulties and pitfalls. Things are so complex in the region,” was Kayani’s reply when asked about his assessment of relations between the two countries during the year ahead.
“Pakistan has no right or desire to dictate Afghanistan’s relations with any country, including India. But it expects that Afghanistan will be mindful of legitimate security concerns of Pakistan,” Kayani said on Afghan-India relations. “The people of Pakistan measure the strength of US-Pak relations on the scale of US-India partnership.”
The Pakistan army chief argued that while his country could not afford to be in a “state of perpetual conflict with India” and has to “strike a balance between defence and development”, but “we cannot afford to ignore our basic defence needs”. His comments suggested the Pakistan army’s ‘India-centric’ approach to strategic issues is still very much in place, with only minor adjustments made to accommodate the changed regional security environment in the 21st century.
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