Mint Explainer: What intelligence leaks reveal about Pakistan’s ties with the US

Mint breaks development.

• Khar’s memo, titled ‘Pakistan’s tough choice’ was the subject of a Washington Post report, part of an ongoing investigation into the leaked intelligence documents, that first appeared on popular messaging platforms such as Discord in April.
• As the Post points out, it is unclear how US intelligence agencies obtained the memo. Since the leak, US intelligence has faced criticism, particularly from allies such as South Korea, for intercepting senior lawmakers’ communications to gauge their position on the war in Ukraine.
• In the memo, Khar argues that it will become increasingly difficult for Pakistan to walk a middle ground between the US and China. He also reportedly argued that Islamabad’s push to preserve its partnership with the US would prevent it from fully taking advantage of its “genuine strategic” partnership with Beijing.
• Khar’s memo, written in March, points to a real challenge to Pakistan’s foreign policy. Pakistan’s relations with the US, once a major recipient of US economic and military aid, have gone through difficult times.
• At one level, the relationship still holds. The two countries’ vital defense and national-security ties saw some movement when Washington offered a $450 million maintenance package for Pakistan’s F-16 fighter jet fleet through 2022. affected by the devastating floods.
• However, since the collapse of Afghanistan and the broader US pivot to the Indo-Pacific region, Pakistan’s value as a strategic partner for Washington has diminished.
• This strategic drift was best exemplified by the comments of Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman. “We (America) do not see ourselves building a comprehensive relationship with Pakistan and have no interest in returning to the days of isolation between India and Pakistan,” he said. That’s not where we are, that’s not where we’re going to be,” she said.
• High-level political disagreements haven’t helped matters. Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan accused a mid-ranking American diplomat of plotting to overthrow his government, while US President Joe Biden inadvertently described Pakistan as “probably one of the most dangerous countries in the world”. described as such, igniting a controversy.
• China, which has built stronger political, economic and defense ties with Pakistan than ever before, appears to be an immediate beneficiary of the US-Pakistan estrangement.