Nasim Zehra (left), an associate at the Asia Center, and Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, first secretary at the Pakistan embassy in Washington, D.C., talk and listen during the daylong conference 'The Critical Engagement: Pakistan and U.S. Relations' in the Tsai Auditorium at CGIS.

Pakistan critical to South Asia stability

Asia Center hosts U.S.-Pakistan relations conference

A top Pakistani official gave voice to the frustration the South Asian nation feels in its relations with the United States , saying that though Pakistan has been a staunch U.S. ally, the United States ignores Pakistan until its interests force its attention there. "The United States has only acted as a fire brigade: It puts out the fire and moves on," said Mushahid Hussain Sayed, chairman of the Pakistani Senate's Foreign Relations Committee.
Sayed decried the short attention span of U.S. diplomacy, saying that Pakistan was important to the United States when the Soviet army was in Afghanistan. With the withdrawal of the Soviets in the late 1980s, the United States ignored Pakistan until after the 9/11 bombings, when the nation rapidly rose on the U.S. foreign policy agenda.

Sayed was the keynote speaker for a daylong conference on Pakistan and the United States called "The Critical Engagement: Pakistan and U.S. Relations," and held at the Center for Government and International Studies. Sponsored by the Asia Center, the conference also featured several panel discussions on strategic issues, reform, the economic outlook, and future engagement.

Pakistan sees the United States as something of a "fair-weather friend," Saich said, describing the relationship between the two nations as a turbulent one that shifts along with the changing perceptions of U.S. strategic interests. Though the U.S. interest in Pakistan has shifted over time, Sayed said the two nations' interests are strongly aligned today toward peace in the region, toward winning the fight against extremist terror, and toward greater economic growth and cooperation.