My take is that the US bargained far better than Pakistan in the negotiations.
WEST BLOOMFIELD, MI, US: My take is that the US bargained far better than Pakistan in the negotiations. Just look at the original long list of what Pakistan had wanted in order to let the supplies pass and what the parliament is said to have unanimously approved. The US allowed the Pakistani establishment to wallow in its assumptions about the value of its strategic location to the point of neglecting its own super weaknesses particularly the economic dependencies.
Gradually, Pakistan ended up painting itself in a corner by making ghairat, sovereignty, and finally an apology the primary issues. In the end, it got nothing, no $5,000 per container, no assurance on drone strikes, and a very ambiguous “sorry” that applies equally to the two sides. It is interesting that the Difa-e-Pakistan Council crowd, and the Hafeez Saeeds who errupted in an anti-supply-chain and anti US chorus at the swing of the music director’s baton are deafeningly silent now, and the spokespeople of the establishment are busy claiming victory in defeat.
Siddharta Shastri
Published in The Express Tribune, July 10th, 2012.
