Pakistan's Latest Embarrassment Or Opportunity

The latest report released by US department of defense, the largest government agency and perhaps the most important in the US administration has once again accused Pakistan of harboring terrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan. To quote “Pakistan continues to harbor the Taliban and associated militant groups in Pakistan, such as the Haqqani Network, which maintains the ability to conduct attacks against Afghan interests” unquote. The report apart from blaming it for abating terrorism in Afghanistan has emphasized on “associated militant groups in Pakistan”.

Any ordinary person would take it as a dent on the international image of the country. But not so in the case of our neighbor. Instigating and incriminating reports are raw materials for the nature of business they are in ! Instead of being crestfallen they would be cheering the report. As always, they again have an opportunity to beg the largesse feigning help to America in its resolve to  fight against terrorism. It holds even more importance, when the economy is on the verge of collapse rather collapsed. Cricketer turned politician is in such a state of trauma that he has started seeking the help of his cricketing eleven. Few days back Javed Miandad released a video, undoubtedly, at the behest of the Prime Minister of Pakistan requesting its nationals world-over to donate. More appalling was his understanding of the economy and debt-ridden status of his country. Ridiculously, he was selling the idea of debt retirement of billions of dollars by the doled out amount from Pakistanis around the world. Feel pity for the fellow Pakistanis.

As a Prime Minister, Mr.Imran Khan could never ensconce himself. He was never given the carte blanche by the men in uniform to take independent decisions. Even if he had, he does not command  the authority to crack a peace deal with India. Pakistan army has always scuttled and obliterated even the remotest possibility of sorting the inveterate issues in Jammu and Kashmir not directly but by proxy means which remains an open secret. The ignominious defeat in Bangladesh and the urge to wreak vengeance still haunts them.

Coming back to the US report, it’s like blessing in disguise for them. Another opportunity of extracting dollars has knocked their doors. On the pretext of assisting the super-power against  terror they can snatch their pie. The World has witnessed this during the US military operations in search of Osama Bin Laden. The devil was handed over to the special forces after the maximum juice was extracted from the sugarcane. They have fooled and blackmailed America number of times, the only act they are adept at. But every day is not sunday and they would do good to realize it on the backdrop of changing dynamics of world politics particularly in the post covid era.