New Delhi: Pakistan could secure huge amounts of aid from the US by offering its territory as a base to oppose the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which began in December 1979, but it has not been able to get any money from during the Iran war in which it is playing the role of a peacemaker, laments an article in the Pakistani media.
The Soviet-Afghan War began on December 24, 1979. Washington first offered Pakistan $400 million, but then President General Zia-ul-Haq dismissed it as “peanuts”, and Islamabad refused. In 1981, the two sides agreed to a $3.2 billion six-year military and economic assistance package. A second phase followed – another $4.0-4.2 billion for 1988-93, states the article by Dr Farrukh Saleem in Karachi-headquartered The News International.
Even Saudi Arabia added $6-8 billion in parallel flows, while the UN system financed Afghan refugees at $3-5 billion. The World Bank and IMF provided $5-7 billion in concessional finance, programme support, and balance-of-payments relief. Add it up: Total inflow (1980s): $20-27 billion. In today’s dollars: around $60-85 billion, the article pointed out.
“That was not charity. That was geography converted into cash,” the article said.
After 9/11, the US also released $600 million in emergency cash to Pakistan. Paris Club creditors then restructured about $12.5 billion of Pakistan’s debt stock. Congress later backed a $3 billion five-year package, and Pakistan was also allowed to use FY2003–FY2004 allocations to cancel $1.5 billion in debt to the US government. During Gen Pervez Musharraf’s tenure, the US provided over $13 billion in military and economic aid, much of it through Coalition Support Funds. That’s a total of $45 billion in today’s dollars, the article highlighted.
“In 2026, Pakistan became indispensable. Leaders flew in. Cameras zoomed in. Islamabad became the stage. Hands were shaken. Statements were issued. Islamabad was on every screen in the world. The world watched. This time, geography did not convert into cash,” it noted.
“In 1979, war on Pakistan’s frontier brought $60–85 billion in. In 2001, the war on Pakistan’s frontier brought $45 billion again. In 2026, the war on Pakistan’s frontier sent $5.7 billion out of the country. This was not just an outflow. It was a balance-sheet shock against a $16 billion reserve base,” the article lamented.
The hard truth is that the first two wars brought billions into Pakistan. The third is taking billions out. Once, Pakistan’s geography earned strategic rent. Now it attracts strategic risk. Once, wars brought grants, debt relief and reimbursements. Now they bring bond repayments, reserve depletion, and capital flight, the article noted.
(IANS)
