Of strategy and banana orders

Of strategy and banana orders by Puneet Rajhans

About six days ago Hillary Clinton posted on her bog that Pakistan has been the strongest ally of the US in the never ending and never decreasing war on terrorism. She was all praise for the sacrifices that Pak residents made in the wake of drone attacks that intentionally targeted Taliban but ended up in the homes of Pak sheltered Talibanese given the strong ideological roots the two preserved and strong pashtun features they shared.

She posted these thoughts in the blog prior to the press briefing that she was supposed to address with Pak Foreign Minister. Where both were supposed to share and speak in one voice on the inadequate aid Pak had got to date given the challenges it has on its hands. With the posting in the blog the dwindling presence in the press meets of theirs was a thing of the past and a full house was ensured something elusive so far for the leaders who had been touching base now and then.

The strategic sessions the two sides have been having since time immemorial has been strategically built to strategically preserve the idea of a nation state that Pak time and again tries to trample with. The strategy during these sessions held in close doors with few having the legitimate pass to infiltrate except the Foreign Ministers of the two nation states and those suitably armed with Urdu and English language. Precisely because when Pak Foreign Minister speaks with long yawning gaps more than half of the content is spoken in Urdu as he continuously fails to keep close to the gist of the speech. The handwritten speech conduct is no better given the periodic fits he gets ever since he shared a joint press meet with his Indian counterpart Krishna. In that meet, the long silence of Krishna made him lose his share of silence and he threw caution to the wind and was all fire and brimstone as he tore India's stand on all issues that never concerned Pak. He also launched a personal scathing attack on Indian leadership to have old worn out figures at the helm who could barely speak and spew venom.

The US identified Pak as a strategic partner when the new millennium hadn't set in and there were reasons for that. THe US continues to believe that the turnaround in the Pak economy is round the corner. If it does not happen in the immediate future it would happen sometime later (15 to 20 years is the probable time limit) given the nature of investments China is going to make and the active interest of the Islamic World to see Pak remains afloat. Once the Pak turnaround happens, whose economy won't be any less than Saudi Arabia, the US would see Islamabad place a huge defence order worth billions with Washington to be carried out for a probable 10 to 15 years. Once that happens Pak would not only have kept its promise of being a stable strategic partner of the US but also give the much-needed life support to its economy.

As for New Delhi it can't be a strong ally of the US given its unfailing nature to repair men and machines at home than send them to the US. Against this the Pak military and political traffic that keeps shuttling between Islamabad and Washington is an attempt to rekindle the lives of these personalities who seem to get diluted if they don't keep the line of communication with the US open.
As for other countries (big banana and apna apple republics included) which could be strong allies of the US in the foreseeable future, the US has set its sight on those economies where a turnaround is possible and have the stamina to place a defence order to the US which not only safeguards them from unidentified foes but also secures the sovereignty of the US. Some of the 50 states in the US have expressed the desire to break away if the economy doesn't shows signs of improving. So for all the strategic and stable allies that the US would be having the benchmark has been set in motion by Saudi Arabia which has placed a defence order worth $ 60 to 80 billion for a period still to be spelt out.

As for Pak, it easily fits the bill as the turnaround is expected soon. As for India, it could well be the strongest and safest strategic partner of China given the desire of the Indian establishment to place apple, banana and soap orders to China which would any day be better than the Saudi figure. Once the lot that arrives from China over a period of time is found to be good enough to last the entire season, the defence acquisitions would follow with the rider that equipments give enough handle to Indian forces to make the Pak acquisition from China redundant. The period for which acquisitions would be made and replenishments sought would depend on China's active disinterest from Arunachal to Apna Kashmir.