Samir Kalra, and Akhil Ramesh
It is high time that US policy treats India and Pakistan for what they are: an emerging global power on the one hand and a bankrupt Chinese vassal state on the other.
There are few countries in the world that can dial both Beijing and Washington for support. One of them is Pakistan. The country has come to embody the phrase “running with the hare and hunting with the hounds.”
During the Global War on Terror, Pakistan simultaneously provided tacit support to the terrorist forces seeking refuge in its territories, fleeing American forces while at the same time supporting Washington as a non-NATO strategic ally.
Fast-forward to a post-Afghanistan world, Islamabad has maintained ties with both Beijing and Washington to leverage them when needed. This is particularly important during times of crisis like the recent one that arose after Islamist terrorists (likely sponsored by Pakistan) massacred mostly Hindu tourists in India’s Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The terrorist attack by “The Resistance Front,” an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a State Department-designated foreign terrorist organization, elicited a military and non-military response from India, including strikes on terrorist infrastructure deep in Pakistani territory. Pakistan subsequently escalated the conflict by launching drone and missile attacks on civilians, places of worship, and military installations in India, drawing a stronger Indian response that destroyed several Pakistani air bases.
For its part, the United States has publicly avoided taking sides between India and Pakistan. As a matter of fact, it has gone so far as to draw false equivalencies between the two countries, angering New Delhi and emboldening Pakistan. Pakistani military and government officials have even gone to the extent of holding celebratory rallies despite clear evidence that India dominated the short military conflict.
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