A STRONG FOE IS BETTER THAN A WEAK FRIEND.

This political pattern is not surprising for Pakistan but what’s different this time is the narrative. A well-rehearsed one!

Imran Khan accused Washington of conspiring with the Pakistani political opposition to remove him from Islamabad office. He directly said, “US President Joe Biden’s administration was offended over his “independent” approach to foreign policy and then the controversial visit to Moscow that “coincided” with the start of Russia-Ukraine conflict.

But while experts say that Imran Khan’s allegations of a foreign plot against him are unconfirmed and for the most part politically provoked, they nevertheless highlight longstanding tensions in the US-Pakistan relationship.

Now will the new PM Shehbaz Sharif mend his ways with the U.S or will Imran Khan keep making it thorny for Shehbaz and his newly formed government?

Shehbaz Sharif, of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) party, was sworn in on Monday after Imran Khan lost a no-confidence vote in the Pakistani parliament, where he had failed to retain a majority amid criticism over a deteriorating economic crisis and allegations of negligence.

Sharif tweeted that he has pledged to reconstruct the economy and “to keep building relationships with other countries on the basis of mutual respect, equality & peace”,

On this, Secretary of State Antony Blinken passed on good wishes to Sharif for becoming Pakistan’s prime minister and said Washington looked ahead to enduring its “longstanding cooperation with Pakistan’s government”.

Blinken said in a statement that, “The United States views a strong, prosperous, and democratic Pakistan as essential for the interests of both of our countries,”

Political analysts have depicted the US-Pakistan ties over the past decades as “transactional”, with Washington seeking Islamabad’s support on regional security matters – most significantly, Afghanistan – in exchange for financial assistance. But the relationship has not always been easy.

American bureaucracies have accused their Pakistani counterparts of not doing enough to tackle “terrorism” and of harboring armed groups, including the Taliban, of course. Pakistan at times has been equally exasperated, denouncing US drone attacks and saying the country had paid “a very high price” for backing the US in Afghanistan.

Remember when then-President Donald Trump cut security assistance to Pakistan, which was when the relationship between Pakistan and the U.S hit a low point, it was 2018, and this was before Imran Khan took reigns of his country.

Later “a very public reset” took place the following year when Imran Khan met Trump at the White House, by that point; Pakistan was playing an important role in talks between the Trump administration and the Taliban to reach an agreement to end the war in Afghanistan.

Towards the end of 2020, once President Biden was elected and the withdrawal from Afghanistan was about to happen, Pakistan pitched a geo-economics-based relationship with the US, explaining that Imran Khan had hoped Washington would begin viewing Islamabad further than the lens of Afghanistan alone.

Last year, Imran Khan said he wanted Pakistan to have a “civilized” and “even-handed” relationship with the US after the Afghanistan withdrawal, which was concluded at the end of August. What that meant was deepening economic prospects, among other things.

“Unfortunately, the affiliation was a bit asymmetrical during this War on Terror” Khan was heard saying. It was an uneven relationship because the US felt that they were giving aid to Pakistan, they felt that Pakistan then had to do US’s bidding.

Now that the US has left Afghanistan, there’s very little left to be interested in, other than of course the usual issues of non-proliferation and terrorism.

It now will be interesting to see how the US approaches Pakistan under Sharif’s leadership. Biden was US vice president when Sharif’s older brother, Nawaz, a three-time prime minister, held the post, so the Biden administration is known with the Sharif family.

The balance between the Pakistan administration and the U.S is not an Imran Khan Policy or Shehbaz Sherif policy; it’s a state policy.

And… about military, well they want a constructive affiliation with the US, and why not.