(Below is the second part of the proposal put forward by myself in a leading think tank to the likes of Mr. Sartaj Aziz (Ex Foreign and Finance Minister Pakistan), Mr. Khursheed M Kasoori (Ex Foreign Minister Pakistan), S M Zafar (Senior lawyer and Senator, e.t.c.), Muahid Hassan Shah (Scholar & brother of Musahid H Syed), Mr. Altaf Hassan Qureshi (Senior Journalist and Columnist) and many other dignitaries including experts on National Security issues (Retired Brigadiers and Colonels) and senior editors who were present there. It was highly appreciated and proponents of USA aid were left speechless as the myths on the Pakistan-USA relations were shattered. )
In continuation of my last post on the above topic we can now discuss about the second most common myth and important consideration in Pakistan-USA relations. The generally propagated line is that:
Myth No 2) We (Pakistan) need the USA for state-of-the-art weapons from the USA due to threats from India.
This is an argument based on the perceived threats from Indian State to the existence and sovereignty of Pakistan, having reasonable basis due to the history and unresolved conflicts between the two nations.
The second notion is based on USA’s state-of-the-art weapons providing Pakistan credible defence against the Indian threat. Well it certainly did not in 1971 and even in 1965 or the battle of Kuch, the Pakistani victories and holding off of enemy attacks were more due to the ultimate bravery and sacrifices of the men fighting than the weaponry which were in short supply due to embargo placed on Pakistan during the war rendering its armed forces effectively disabled.
Moreover all our major strategic defence projects in the last few years involved China and not the USA. To list a few, Pakistan and China worked jointly on projects such as:
1) JF-17 Thunder Fighter Aircrafts
2) Submarines Project
3) Civil-Nuclear Co-operation
Even putting all this aside, the latest development of the tactical nuclear program by Pakistan has killed the Indian “Cold-Start Doctrine” and essentially closed the doors of any open external-only Indian aggression. This has effectively answered the biggest proposition of them all ……. effective defence from an Indian aggression.
What this means is that now Pakistan has the plutonium based highly effective-impact yet small range atomic bombs which can wipe off an enemy brigade off the face of the planet or take off an entire enemy naval, army or airforce base without actually annihilating an entire city. One can call them small atomic-bombs for ease.
Now that this has effectively killed the Indian “Cold-Start” Doctrine by allowing Pakistan to bomb an advancing enemy army within its own territory without causing large-scale devastation and international condemnation resulting in such a scenario, do we really need weapons from USA to protect from an Indian aggression?
The answer is no. The better option would be to start self-reliant defence weapons development programs perhaps with partnership with interested “friendly” nations ready to deal as equals and not masters, i.e. China, Gulf States, e.t.c. and divert most of those funds that would be saved by switching from expensive USA weapons, to much more cost-effective self-reliant systems, to improving the lives of the ordinary people of Pakistan.
Omer Zaheer Meer's Blog 