Earlier this month, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told journalists that whatever China was doing for Pakistan, the United States cannot do, stressing that “relations with Washington should be repaired, but not at the cost of ties with Beijing.”
As an example, he cited the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), noting work was ongoing on the project’s second phase. His blunt assessment indicates tensions between Washington and Islamabad, especially as the latter deals with the fallout of the abrupt withdrawal of U.S.-led forces from Afghanistan. Unlike “all-weather friend” China, Pakistan’s ties with the U.S. have been strained as far back as the 1950s, with each accusing the other of using the other to “advance its own agenda that impacted negatively on the other’s interests.”
The roots of the current impasse can be traced back to 1990, when the U.S. imposed nuclear-related sanctions on Pakistan. This process continued through much of the ‘90s, with ties only partially recovering after 9/11 and Pakistan’s subsequent alliance with the U.S. in the war on terror. Recent years have shown Washington reducing its ties with Pakistan, blaming it for supporting non-state actors, including the Taliban. This included a bill introduced by Republican lawmakers seeking an assessment of the Government of Pakistan’s “anti-U.S.” support to the Taliban between 2001 and 2020. Wendy Sherman, then-U.S. deputy secretary of state, told journalists in Mumbai ahead of a trip to Pakistan in October 2021 that Washington no longer desired “broad-based” ties with Pakistan, making the implied severing of ties explicit. She went on to say her visit to Pakistan was specifically aimed at tackling the “Afghanistan problem.” In Pakistan, this was seen as the U.S. trying to scapegoat Islamabad over its own policy failures in Afghanistan. Resultantly, Pakistan also indicated a slow shift away from Washington.
A key reason for the U.S. disenchantment with Pakistan was then-prime minister Imran Khan declaring the Taliban had “broken the shackles of slavery” by ousting NATO’s forces. The situation worsened with him accusing the U.S. of plotting his ouster, with ties only recently nearing a semblance of “normalcy”—but with reservations. The U.S. decision to pick India as its preferred partner in South Asia has further fueled the rift, in turn pushing Pakistan even closer to China. This has seen Pakistan relying almost entirely on China for its military supplies, another sore point for the U.S. For now, Pakistan maintains it has no interest in bloc politics. However, if global trends prevail, Islamabad might find little choice but to pick a side, which could trigger its own share of long-term consequences the country is ill-equipped to handle.