South Asia Investor Review

What are the key sources of the current crises faced by Pakistan? Can any of these be traced to blunders committed years ago by Pakistani leaders? Pakistan's Gen AK Niazi Signing Surrender in East Pakistan Was it a blunder for Pakistan's founders to align with the United States early on? What was the alternative for a nascent cash-strapped state that faced imminent economic collapse? Who other than the United States had the  deep pockets to help Pakistan  in 1947 when the Soviet Union, Europe and Japan lay in ruins at the end of WW II? Would the construction of big dams and irrigation system in Pakistan have happened without the US help? Would the Green Revolution have come about if the US did not help? US Aid in 66 Years Was the passage of the Objectives Resolution in 1949 among the blunders of Pakistan's early leaders? Did it distract from framing an inclusive and unifying constitution of the nation-state? Did it promote religious discrimination and extremism...

After watching the Indian Prime Minister  Narendra Modi 's welcome in Washington this week, one of my blog readers asked me the following question: "Has Any Pakistani leader ever received a warm Washington welcome like Modi's?" The answer is: Yes, President Ayub Khan of Pakistan received  a much bigger and warmer welcome in America  than Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi this week. Before I describe it, let me try and put things in perspective for my readers. President John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy receiving President Ayub Khan Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger of the United States has often been quoted as saying: “America has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests.”  Let's interpret Kissinger's quote to explain the crux of the  shifting alliances  since the end of the US-Soviet Cold War in early 1990s. The United States needed Pakistan to counter the Soviet influence in Asia until late 1980s. Today,  America needs India to chec...