Call for Strategic Partnership with Russia & China
by
Brigadier Usman Khalid, Leader of Al-Ansaar
In international relations, there are no permanent friends, only permanent interests. India was always America's first
love. It was India that rejected the USA and opted for strategic partnership with the USSR. India was clear and certain
that only a super power under siege - like the USSR - could be relied upon to use its veto in the UN Security Council to
support India in its aggression against Pakistan ( in 1965 and 1971), in its genocide of Kashmiris, Sikhs and Assamese,
and repression of Dalits. The USSR was not constrained by political opposition; it was blinded by its imperial
ambitions.
Now, India has decided to dump Russia and has opted for strategic partnership with the USA. It sees that now America
that has no internal opposition and it is blinded by its hatred for Muslims. As so very succinctly put by former
President Clinton and Secretary of State Colin Powell, India and America are natural allies.
What makes India and America natural allies makes Pakistan and Russia natural allies. The victory of forces supported by
Russia and Iran in Afghanistan gives Pakistan the opportunity to redress the imbalance. We should not be overly
concerned that India supported the Northern Alliance. India does not share a border with Afghanistan, we do. General
Musharraf was blackmailed into acting treacherously towards the Taliban, but he did not have to present it as a great
success. I hope he realises now much he is hated - almost as much as Benazir and Nawaz Sharif before they were ousted.
I confess to having a soft corner for Musharraf. I believe it is his cabinet full of American appointees and his own
inertia that made him a frightened rabbit. He has lost the affection and trust of the people. Time has now come for
Shanghai Five to become Six. General Musharraf has pinned his colours to the American mast. The nation now awaits the
formation of a political alliance in Pakistan that seeks strategic partnership with Russia and China to oust America
from Central Asia and the Middle East. Al-Ansaar calls upon former President Farooq Leghari, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, Mr
Ajmal Khattak and Mr Imran Khan to form such an alliance.
ENDS