Like other US leaders before him, President Donald Trump has concluded that Pakistan is a Janus-faced ally. The country’s security services receive US assistance, while they provide sanctuary to the Taliban and other terrorist organisations at war with the US and its allies, including India.
Mr Trump is right in one respect. America is not getting value for the money (some $33bn since the 9/11 terror attacks on the US, according to the US president) it provides to a country whose military and intelligence services, the ISI, have manipulated religious fanatics partly to keep a hand in the great game playing out next door in Afghanistan.
The decision taken last week to suspend $2bn in security assistance is therefore understandable. Moreover, this money has helped to empower parts of the state — the armed forces and ISI — that have enfeebled civilian institutions and civil society. If the suspension can be used as leverage to persuade them to take a firmer line against the Taliban and to support rather than weaken the government, it could prove a worthwhile gamble.