ISLAMABAD: Pakistan cannot be a strategic ally of the US as the latter’s interests in South Asia contradict Pakistan’s national interests, defense and security experts said on Monday at a seminar in Islamabad organized by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).
Pakistan’s relationship with the US is transactional, and Islamabad mistook it as strategic, said Abdul Basit, president of the Islamabad Policy Research Institute.
US interests in South Asia “are totally in contradiction to the national interests of Pakistan,” and “we don’t have any foreign policy to deal with the challenges,” he added.
A lack of convergence of interests, and of economic cooperation, are the major contributing factors to the relationship’s poor history, he said.
“We need to formulate proactive diplomacy and behave as a mature nation instead of just reacting to international developments,” he said. “During the last four years, we have lost our space in US diplomacy.”
Dr. Shireen Mazari, a lawmaker with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and director general of the Strategic Studies Institute Islamabad, said Pakistan miscalculated its relationship with the US.
“Pakistan has been acting against its own interests in the region just to serve the US, and this should come to an end now,” she said.
The rise of India as a regional power, the isolation of Iran and the containment of China are the major US interests in South Asia, she added.
“Our national interests did not converge with the interests of the US,” Mazari said, adding that America can never be a natural strategic ally to Pakistan.
Security analyst Imtiaz Gul said the relationship remains hostage to fundamental differences. “Pakistan needs to work out some fundamental changes in its foreign policy to normalize relations with the US,” he added.
Pakistan should capitalize on its geostrategic importance and redefine its relationship with the US and India for regional peace and stability, he said.
Hafiz Masroor Ahmed, vice president of the Center for Global and Strategic Studies, said Indian influence in Afghanistan poses a danger to Pakistan.
Islamabad should not be a hostage to US interests in the region, as peace talks in Afghanistan with the Taliban were sabotaged by Washington, he added. “All our institutions should formulate a joint strategy to deal with the US,” he said.
Shakeel Ahmad, director of research uptake and business development at the SDPI, said the Trump administration “has brought a mix of change and continuity in the country’s foreign and security policies, including those in South Asia, and we need to understand that for a better relationship.”
Pakistan cannot be a strategic US ally: Experts
Pakistan cannot be a strategic US ally: Experts
African Union rejects ‘any recognition of Somaliland’ after Israel declaration
- Egypt’s foreign ministry said its top diplomat had spoken with his counterparts from Turkiye, Somalia and Djibouti, who together condemned the move and emphasized “their full support for the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Somalia”
- Israel repeatedly hit targets in Yemen after the Gaza war broke out in October 2023, in response to Houthi attacks on Israel that the rebels said were in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip
NAIROBI: The African Union on Friday said it “rejects any recognition of Somaliland” after Israel declared it viewed the breakaway Somali territory as a sovereign state.
In a statement issued by its head, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, the AU called for African borders to be respected and said: “Any attempt to undermine the unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Somalia... risks setting a dangerous precedent with far-reaching implications for peace and stability across the continent.”
The chief of the pan-African body, which counts Somalia as a member, said he “firmly rejects any initiative or action aimed at recognizing Somaliland as an independent entity” and stating that Somaliland “remains an integral part of the Federal Republic of Somalia.”
While, Somalia reacted angrily on Friday after Israel formally recognized its northern region of Somaliland as an “independent and sovereign state” — the first country to do so.
Somaliland, which declared independence from Somalia in 1991, has for decades pushed for international recognition, which has been the key priority for president Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi since he took office last year.
But a Somali foreign ministry statement warned that the decision was “deliberate attack” on its sovereignty that would undermine peace in the region. Several other countries also condemned Israel’s decision.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he announced “the official recognition of the Republic of Somaliland as an independent and sovereign state,” making Israel the first country to do so.
“The declaration is in the spirit of the Abraham Accords,” Netanyahu’s office said, referring to several agreements between Israel and Arab countries brokered by US President Donald Trump during his first presidency to normalize ties with Israel.
It said Netanyahu had invited Abdullahi to visit.
Hailing Israel’s decision, Abdullahi said in a post on X that it marked the beginning of a “strategic partnership.”
“This is a historic moment as we warmly welcome” he said, affirming “Somaliland’s readiness to join the Abraham Accords,” he added.
In Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, crowds of people took to the streets to celebrate, many carrying the flag of the breakaway state, said sources.
- ‘Illegitimate actions’ -
Somalia’s foreign ministry said: “Illegitimate actions of this nature seriously undermine regional peace and stability, exacerbate political and security tensions, in the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, the Middle East and the wider region.”
Turkiye, a close ally of Somalia, also condemned the move.
“This initiative by Israel, which aligns with its expansionist policy... constitutes overt interference in Somalia’s domestic affairs,” it said in a foreign ministry statement.
Egypt’s foreign ministry said its top diplomat had spoken with his counterparts from Turkiye, Somalia and Djibouti, who together condemned the move and emphasized “their full support for the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Somalia.”
In video showing Netanyahu speaking to Abdullahi by telephone, the Israeli leader said: “I want you to know that I am signing now as we speak Israel’s official recognition of the Somaliland,” adding that the new relationship would offer economic opportunities.
“I am very, very happy and I am very proud of this day and I want to wish you and the people of Somaliland the very, very best,” he said.
Netanyahu also said that he would communicate to Trump Abdullahi’s “willingness and desire to join the Abraham accords.”
A self-proclaimed republic, Somaliland enjoys a strategic position on the Gulf of Aden, has its own money, passports and army. But since its unilateral declaration of independence in 1991, it has grappled with decades of isolation.
- Strategic -
Analysts say matters of strategy were behind Israel’s drive to recognize Somaliland.
“Israel requires allies in the Red Sea region for many strategic reasons, among them the possibility of a future campaign against the Houthis,” said the Institute for National Security Studies in a paper last month, referring to Yemen’s Iran-backed rebels.
“Somaliland is an ideal candidate for such cooperation as it could offer Israel potential access to an operational area close to the conflict zone,” it said, adding there were also economic motives.
Israel repeatedly hit targets in Yemen after the Gaza war broke out in October 2023, in response to Houthi attacks on Israel that the rebels said were in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The Houthis have halted their attacks since a fragile truce began in Gaza in October.
Somaliland’s lack of international recognition has hampered access to foreign loans, aid and investment, and the territory remains deeply impoverished.
A deal between landlocked Ethiopia and Somaliland last year to lease a stretch of coastline for a port and military base enraged Somalia.
Israel has been trying to bolster relations with countries in the Middle East and Africa.
Historic agreements struck late in Trump’s first term in 2020 saw several countries including Muslim-majority United Arab Emirates and Morocco normalize relations with Israel, but wars that have stoked Arab anger, particularly in Gaza, have hampered recent efforts.
