Pakistan received $68 billion in US assistance during 66 years

KARACHI: Pakistan and the US have had a volatile relationship during the last sixty-six years, which saw the flow of US assistance periodically interrupted, yet US during the last 64 years (1948-2012) provided $68 billion in aid and assistance to Pakistan, which included $42 billion in economic aid, while the remaining $26 billion in military assistance. Pakistan for the fist time in 1948 received a sum of $0.77 million in economic aid in tandem with the request to allow using Pakistan airbase for conducting intelligence in the Soviet Union, but the then prime minister Shaheed Liaquat Ali Khan refused to oblige them and, thereby, the US remained annoyed for some time. Following the martyrdom of Liaquat Ali Khan in 1951, the US aid was resumed and by 1964 it increased to such an extent that Pakistan received as much as about $2.5 billion in economic and military aid. This was an era of the military dictator General Ayub Khan, when Pakistan had given military airbase to the US for surveillance of the Soviet Union, but after 1965 war with India, the US assistance started dwindling and until 1971 i.e. at the time of fall of Dhaka it was reduced to such an extent that it amounted to $470 million only. Later, US on the pretext of Pakistan’s nuclear programme had imposed a ban and by enacting a law in 1979 the door for the US aid to Pakistan was almost shutdown. But in December 1979 the situation once again took a turn in favour of Pakistan, when the Soviet Union had invaded Afghanistan and US badly needed Pakistan’s strategic support. In this backdrop, US economic and military assistance to Pakistan again started in 1982 and during 1983-88 US aid to Pakistan surged to $1 billion annually. But with this increased flow of dollars, heroin and Kalashnikov cultures also took the roots in Pakistan. Following Soviet Union’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, US also lost interest in the region and once again an economic embargo was imposed on Pakistan under Pressler Amendment in 1990. US started war against terror after 9/11 horrific incidents that again reminded US of Pakistan, the embargo was lifted and the flow of economic and military assistance continued uninterrupted, which saw Pakistan receiving over $25 billion during 2002-2012 constituting of $17 billion in military aid and $8 billion in economic assistance. In spite of this, if the total loss of Pakistan in war on terror is estimated, then Pakistan as an US ally ended up losing a whopping amount of $100 billion i.e. Pakistan lost much more than what it got during the last 66 years.