United States’ double standards stand exposed with its “weakest diplomatic” justification for the “dangerous” F-16 assistance to Pakistan as the same US in the past has given out a clean slate to Islamabad for sponsoring terrorists, media reports said.
US assistance to Pakistan’s “terror policy” is “treacherous” as the country had been asking Pakistan to act against terrorist groups operating from its soil, reported Islam Khabar. The irony of the matter is that the F-16 deal comes near the anniversary of the deadly 9/11 Twin Tower attacks.
It is not to be forgotten that this is the same attack where the role of Pakistan in sheltering and supporting the al-Qaida chief and its key ally Taliban was widely questioned, reported Islam Khabar.
The diplomatic outlook of the US towards Pakistan seems to be toppled now. US previously persuaded global anti-terrorist financing watchdog, FATF, to keep Pakistan on the hook of a greylist. US also used its diplomatic channels to hold back the International Monetary Fund relief deal for Pakistan.
US Vice-President Kamala Harris has urged Pakistan to not support terrorists harbouring on its soil. President Joe Biden. Early March this year, the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs discussed a bill that sought to designate Pakistan as a state sponsor of terrorism, the outlet said.
There is well-documented material which suggests that Pakistan was protecting al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and deputy chief Ayman al Zawahiri. Apart from these two, Pakistan’s protection of several other anti-US groups like the Haqqani Network is also documented.
US exit from Afghanistan was disgraceful which led to the takeover of the South Asian nation by the Taliban soon after the exit. Taliban has since then been putting extreme curbs on women and there are reports of widespread human rights violations.
A US think tank, Hudson Institute, in 2017 reported that the “longest war in American history is a proxy war with Pakistan”.
The report pointed out Pakistani safe havens for the Taliban “remain the single most difficult challenge to the NATO effort to stabilise Afghanistan.” The report co-authored by former Pakistan Ambassador to the US, Dr Hussain Haqqani, pointed out that despite over USD 25 billion in US assistance by two Presidents over 15 years, Pakistan Army had refused to stop its patronage of the Haqqani Network and the Taliban.