Headlines
India-US ties about smiles, opportunities: Pakistani daily
The India-US relationship is "seemingly about smiles and opportunities",
while the Pakistan-India relationship "is about grimaces and
perceptions", a leading daily said Tuesday on the concluding day of US
President Barack Obama's three-day state visit to India.
"As the
US and India bask in the glow of a rejuvenated friendship, a civilian
nuclear deal that may finally deliver what it first promised in 2006 and
some small-scale military deals, the feeling in certain quarters in
Pakistan may be one of acute discomfort," the Dawn said in its
editorial.
It said, it does look like India, the world's largest
democracy, and the US have more in common economically, diplomatically,
and geo-strategically than anything the Pakistan-US relationship has to
offer.
"A conflagration in South Asia is fundamentally against
American interests, not least as it expands its search for markets in
India. In addition, for all the focus on a rising India being a
counterweight to China on the eastern side of Asia," the editorial
said.
Not only have successive US administrations made it clear
that Pakistan is a needed ally in the new century, it is also quite
clear that India and Pakistan have their own roles to play in their
respective spheres, the newspaper added.
"Closer ties between
New Delhi and Washington could mean: instead of the two ganging up on
Pakistan on issues of security and Pakistan-based militancy, the
incentives really are for the US to use its influence over India to try
and push for the resumption of dialogue between New Delhi and
Islamabad," the editorial noted.
"However, nothing in the Modi
government's approach seems designed to induce those desirable security
outcomes. Understanding economics and not security will only leave
Prime Minister Modi's India with lopsided vulnerabilities -- meaning,
it will eventually realise that there is no option but to talk to
Pakistan."
The editorial,however, said that Pakistan certainly
needs to do more -- much more -- to placate the outside world about its
concerns regarding Pakistan-based militancy.