A lot of sycophancy for a very short term objective

If there was a Nobel Prize for boot licking then Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would win it hands down.

At a gathering in Sharm el Sheikh organised by US President Donald Trump to mark the ceasefire in the Middle East the Pakistani PM joined other leaders in welcoming the peace.

 

But Sharif went further than the others in prostrating himself before Trump. “I again would like to nominate this great President for the Nobel Peace Prize,” he began.

 

   “He is the most wonderful candidate. I salute you Mr. President for your exemplary leadership.” There was more in a similar vein and the overall effect was reminiscent of the time-honoured trope of the subservient brown man planting kisses on the ample posterior of the great white sahib.

 

   We are familiar with this trope in the subcontinent, of course. To our eternal shame too many of our ancestors did this sort of thing to curry favour with our former colonial masters.

 

   But from the time the freedom struggle began, Indians rebelled against this sort of sycophancy and eventually we threw the imperial rulers out and became a proudly independent nation beholden to nobody, let alone powerful white men.

 

   In the West they often claimed that we had taken all this too far and that Indian leaders were arrogant in their dealings with Europeans and especially with Americans who believed then that they ruled the world.

 

   Jawaharlal Nehru snubbed the US by refusing to join CENTO and SEATO two alliances promoted by Washington to increase its own influence and to counter the USSR. The then US President Dwight Eisenhower regarded Nehru’s refusal as hostile and arrogant and efforts to change his mind by the powerful US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles were rebuffed by Delhi.

 

   Pakistan joined both alliances obediently signing on the dotted line as instructed by Washington.

 

   In 1970-1 Islamabad cultivated President Richard Nixon and his National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger serving as a go-between in America’s rapprochement with China.

 

   So successful was this chamchagiri that the US ignored its European allies who begged it to reconsider and turned a blind eye to the genocide in what was then East Pakistan.

 

   When Prime Minister Indira Gandhi refused to accept the US’s advice to not respond to a genocide on India’s doorstep Nixon referred to her as a ‘bitch’ and turned against India. In any case, Kissinger would later write, Nixon felt that Indira Gandhi spoke to him like a teacher lecturing a backward child.

 

"So why are Pakistan’s leaders so willing to fling their self respect out of the window and throw themselves at the feet of the great white master?"

   That perception continued for many years. A hot microphone caught President Jimmy Carter complaining about Morarji Desai’s attitude during a bilateral meeting and saying that he intended to go back to Washington and write Desai a very ‘cold letter.’

 

   It was because Indian Prime Ministers refused to supplicate before Washington that Ronald Reagan and later George HW Bush treated our leaders as equals and accepted that Washington and Delhi would never agree on everything.

 

   The US was unhappy with Indira Gandhi’s refusal to loudly condemn the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan but did not let it colour the whole relationship. When Rajiv Gandhi succeeded his mother the overall understanding remained.

 

   Pakistan, on the other hand, not only echoed US policy on Afghanistan but obligingly turned over much of the country to the CIA to mount a covert campaign against the Russian-backed Afghan regime.

 

   What did all of its sycophancy get Pakistan? Almost nothing. SEATO and CENTO refused to intervene when it lost the 1965 war with India. Nixon’s hatred of India did not prevent the break up of Pakistan and the creation of Bangladesh. Pakistan’s involvement in the Afghanistan campaign made millions for its generals but it also turned the country into a bankrupt terrorist haven - which it remains to this day.

 

   So why are Pakistan’s leaders so willing to fling their self respect out of the window and throw themselves at the feet of the great white master?

 

   It’s a mystery to me. Do they not understand the lessons of history and recognise that it is this substitution of diplomacy with chamchagiri that has led Pakistan to its present state?

 

   The only explanation I can find is that this use of sycophancy in foreign policy stems from the nature of Pakistani politics. No Prime Minister lasts very long. They are thrown into jail, assassinated or overthrown by the military. So there is nothing to gain by having a long term policy based on Pakistan’s interests. Better to make friends abroad while the going is good and to stash away a few hundred million dollars to spend when the inevitable exile comes. Even military leaders have no real job security. Yahya Khan may have ordered the slaughter of thousands but when the end came it was nasty and unplanned. Zia ul Haq was blown up in mid air and Pervez Musharraf died in disgrace in Dubai.

 

   When you rule a banana republic it’s best to eat up the bananas while you still can.

 

   It’s this kind of calculation that explains Sharif’s embarrassing display of chamchagiri in front of Trump. Sharif is not a fool. He knows that a US President’s term is only four years while foreign policy is a long term affair. He knows also that Trump’s support will not alter the mess that Pakistan is. He is aware that if Trump’s feud with China continues then Pakistan will have to choose between the two and that, in the long term, China is the more reliable ally. And he knows that Trump is mercurial. His policy towards the subcontinent could change overnight.

 

   But none of that worries him too much because he won’t be in power very long. And as he massages Trump’s feet he can claim that he has altered Pakistan’s place in the world and that the US prefers Pakistan to India.

 

   Yes it’s a lot of sycophancy for a very short term objective. But in Pakistan a short term is all its leaders get.