A nation must think before it acts.
Board of Advisers Member Shirin Kheli Quoted in Great Kashmir on US-Pakistan Relations
Since Pakistan in mid-fifties entered into an alliance with America there have been more of troughs and less of crests in the relations between the two countries. But, despite more dips in their relations, the two countries sailed across throughout the cold war period without any complaints against each other. As rightly pointed out by Shirin R. Tahir-Kheli in her book, ‘India-Pakistan and United States, ‘the alliance gave Pakistan a measure of protection against Soviet threats.’ Notwithstanding, priorities of Washington in the region after the India and China conflict undergoing a paradigm shift, it prevented the two countries from fighting each other- despite an opinion in a powerful section in Pakistan that “it should rush its troops into Kashmir.” Instead, Washington nudged them for a dialogue on Kashmir resulting in six rounds of Bhutto- Swaran Singh talks. It even proposed a division of the state, with a proviso for allowing a corridor to India through Kashmir Valley for carrying military supplies to Ladakh. To counter Soviet influence in the region China played an important role as Pakistan’s friend and supporter. “In 1971, India signed a treaty of friendship with the Soviet Union that proved useful during that year’s Indo-Pak War and subsequent creation of Bangladesh.” Writes Shirin Indian born American scholar and member of Council on Foreign Relations. Instead of supporting its allay America at this critical juncture chose to distance itself from the country.