Critical Triangle continues....

Stoking this kind of religious fanaticism though was tricky business and signs of boomeranging were evident even then. After rumours that Israel and the US were behind the Islamist seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca gained ground, a frenzied mob burned down the US Embassy in Islamabad on 21 November 1979 resulting in the death of four. Whatever nadir this incident was going to take bilateral ties to, the invasion of Afghanistan on 25 December 1979, changed everything. As Thomas Thornton, member of the National Security Council staff put it “overnight, literally” things “changed dramatically.”

REAGAN


From the US$400 million proposed by the Carter administration and rejected by Pakistan as “peanuts,” the Reagan administration decided to significantly increase this figure to US$ 3.2 billion over five years. This aid came with significant political concessions and compromises from the US. First there was a tacit understanding that Pakistan could continue to develop a nuclear bomb so long as it did not test it.

The second was that the US decided to ignore human rights violations in Pakistan. As Secretary of State Alexander Haig was to say, “your internal situation is your problem.” Third, the modus operandi of supporting the Afghan rebels—indirectly through the ISI—was confirmed. Lastly given the enthusiasm shown by the Reagan Administration for the Afghan project and its zealousness in defeating the so-called evil empire, Pakistan felt secure by its 1959 alliance guarantee against “communist aggression.” The most potent sign of the aid that was to come was the F-16, which altered the balance of power with India for well over a decade, and in the US view was an “unnecessary luxury.”

To be continued.....