Ambassador Haqqani hopes end to yo-yo diplomacy of past ... Washington Times

Embassy Row

James Morrison

The Pakistani ambassador hopes recent political and military cooperation between his country and the United States signals an end to the "yo-yo" diplomacy that has long marred the bilateral relations.

"The United States and Pakistan have not had an easy relationship, but a strategic one," Ambassador Husain Haqqani told guests at a dinner reception this week at the Pakistani Embassy in Washington.

"We are the most allied of allies one day and the most sanctioned of allies another. We want to see this yo-yo relationship come to an end."

Pakistan was the key to opening U.S. relations with communist China during the Nixon administration, when Henry Kissinger, then national security adviser,made a secret trip to Beijing through Islamabad in 1971, and then sank to renegade status in 1985, when Congress approved the Pressler amendment, which cut off aid to Pakistan because of its developing nuclear weapons program. Today, Washington once again considers Pakistan a strategic partner, this time in the war against terrorism.

As the Pakistani army sweeps through its lawless border area with Afghanistan to crush Taliban terrorists, the United States is awarding its South Asian ally with laser-guided bombs and F-16 fighter jets.

"Pakistan and the United States are putting extremist leaders from Afghanistan out of business," Mr. Haqqani said.

The United States also has approved a bill sponsored by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat, and Sen. Richard G. Lugar, Indiana Republican, to spend $7.5 billion on civilian development projects in Pakistan.

The United States is also promoting better relations between Pakistan and India, two nuclear-armed rivals that have fought three wars against each other. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is due in Washington on April 12 for a nuclear security summit. The Times of India reports that President Obama plans to host talks between Mr. Singh and the leader of the Pakistani delegation, expected to be either President Asif Ali Zardari or Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

The United States and Pakistan, "despite the difficulties of the past, will be able to build a better future, … overcoming our doubts and suspicions of each other," Mr. Haqqani said at his reception for a visiting group of members of Pakistan's Parliament.

He praised the latest cooperation between "the Muslim world's newest democracy and the world's oldest democracy."

Washington March 04, 2010

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