Opinion

Why Trump will fail on national security

Washington’s new National Security Strategy signifies a major shift in American power dynamics that will impact not only Pakistan but also China and Russia, too. This, combined with the Trump administration’s strategic vision for South Asia, envisages New Delhi as a defence buffer in case of any possible confrontation with Beijing. Yet US support of greater Indian influence in the region cannot translate into an expanded role in the Afghan theatre of war across our western border. For this would be entirely unacceptable to Pakistan. After all, this country is a victim of Indian state-sponsored terrorism. This is not a case of un-neighbourly propaganda, but, rather, the simple truth. Indeed, 70 years of Indo-Pak tension bear testimony to this bitter reality.

Despite the prolonged American presence in Afghanistan, cross-border terrorist attacks are still launched from that country into this. Indeed, militants crossing from the other side of the Af-Pak border area do so without impediment. Which naturally begs the question as to why these dangerous elements are neither picked up by the US-trained Afghan military nor by American forces themselves that are operational in that country. Similarly, why does Washington remain silent when it comes to Indian cross-border firing, which sees innocent Pakistani citizens killed every day? Why is it unmoved by systematic human rights abuses committed in Indian-held Kashmir?