The July 23 Revolution and pacts (24), Pact expanded ii- Pakistan. Would Mohamed Ali Jinnah (founder of Pakistan) have been able to resist US pressure to join the Baghdad pact (which later became CENTO) and SEATO in the early-to-mid-1950s and keep Pakistan non-aligned during the Cold War? And had he done so, how would he have avoided the fate that befell Mohamed Mosaddeq in Iran? This is one of many questions Ahmed Farouqi, Director of Research at the American Institute of International Studies, asks in his book “If Jinnah Were to Return”. On September 23, 1955, The Egyptian Gazette reported that Pakistan has also joined the Baghdad pact. Pakistan-US relations have always been for strategic reasons only, with Pakistan on the abused end. The US has deliberately destabilised the region to plunder new markets and exploit new workers. In 1955, with economic pressure by the United States, Pakistan committed to the Baghdad pact. Out of all the allies the US has had, Pakistan has received the most sanctions! The US traded monetary aid to Pakistan, Pakistan, in exchange had to fight for the political interests of the US at the expense of the Pakistan people. The US suspended military aid when the Pakistani people were most in need, the Pakistan-India war. Pakistan's partnership in the "Baghdad pact" Baghdad pact, CENTO and SEATO strengthened its relations with the US. At the time, those relations were so close and friendly that Pakistan was called the US ‘most-allied ally' in Asia. The US had used U-2 spy planes that took off from "Peshawar, Pakistan" Peshawar, Pakistan to reconnoitre sites in the "Soviet Union" Soviet Union since 1957. However, the US suspension of military assistance during the 1965 Pakistan-India war generated a widespread feeling in Pakistan that the US was not a reliable ally. Even though the US suspended military assistance to both countries involved in the conflict, the suspension of aid affected Pakistan much more severely, as India still received aid from the Soviet Union. The lingering dispute has had long-range repercussions. It led Pakistan to military alliance with the United States and to join the Baghdad pact and SEATO alliances; it augmented military spending in both the US and the Soviet Union and caused wars between them. Above all, for the hapless Kashmiris, it has meant living in a limbo of territorial division and economic stagnation, resistance and repression. Gohar Ayub Khan, former Pakistani Foreign Minister, and son of once Pakistani President General Ayub Khan, said in memoirs that his father (who was then Minister of Defence) made Pakistan join the US-backed Baghdad pact in order to wage war on India.” Gradually, relations with the US improved and arms sales were renewed in 1975. Then, in April 1979, the US cut off economic assistance to Pakistan, except food assistance, as required under the Symington Amendment" Symington Amendment to the US Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, due to concerns about Pakistan's nuclear programme. Wing Commander Lanky Ahmad, who accompanied General Ayub Khan as ADC in June 1955 to Ankara for the signing of the Baghdad pact said in his memoirs: “The Field Marshal (Ayub Khan) had a lot of good qualities. He was honest and had a genuine love for Pakistan. He was far less dictatorial than some of the civilians who ruled our country. When I went to the United States for the first time in 1964 for a Civil Aviation Course he was very popular there. The Americans remembered his speech in the combined House and Senate Congress which was the subject of his autobiography Friends not Masters. [email protected]
