After what should be considered a long time since it has actually helped Pakistan improve its military capabilities, it appears that USA has chosen to once again return to its old ways and provide support to an ally, with whom it has enjoyed a rather inconvenient relationship with both sides having a fair share of trust issues. US Pakistan Obama Nawaz Shariff The U.S. - Pakistan relations Pakistan-US relations have always been a roller coaster ride throughout the history and it would not be wrong to say that whenever Washington required help in terms of furthering in agenda, Islamabad has always offered its full support. As we have witnessed during the course of a long history between these two, US has always seemed to abandon Pakistan when the country needed its assistance the most. As soon as Pakistan came into being, it had the choice to tilt either towards the Soviet Union or go for an Alliance with the United States. An alliance with the latter was chosen as the best case scenario by the Pakistani leaders at that time and in the next few decades, both states succeeded in reaping the rewards of this relationship even though there were a few instances where both felt wronged by one another. However, the manner in which US has always deserted Pakistan on several instances, has forced Islamabad into branching out because the leaders and the policymakers do not want to cast their lot to a country which they believe will tuck tail and leave the moment things go south. Indeed, US policy towards Pakistan has always seemed to be more of a case of ‘take and rarely’ give so Pakistan should be forgiven for deciding to start taking measures in order to edge away from an influence that has caused it more harm than good. Following the events of 9/11, US had no option but to make Pakistan a frontline ally in the war against terrorism. Pakistan faced the most serious consequences of American war on terror and indeed the country’s citizens have lost their lives by the thousands ever since US first attacked Afghanistan. Now, it appears that Pakistan does not want its citizens to pay a cost for an alliance that seems to be nothing but a relation in which the other side has... More