CSIS: South Asia Monitor May 5, 2006
Pakistan and the United States: Sweet and Sour
Pramit Mitra & Teresita Schaffer
President George W. Bush’s visit to Pakistan in March 2006 was warmer and more supportive than the whirlwind visit by former president Bill Clinton in 2000. But the inevitable contrast of Bush’s high-profile three days in India to his lackluster visit to Islamabad left a sour taste in Pakistani mouths. This experience is an apt metaphor for U.S.-Pakistan relations: a close personal relationship between the leaders and intense collaboration on the antiterrorism agenda, but mixed public reactions in both Pakistan and the United States and an undertone of public cynicism on the issue of democracy. The good news is Pakistan’s much-improved economic performance, which will expand opportunities for trade and investment and has a chance of making a dent in Pakistan’s devastating poverty rate.
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