It seems the so-called thaw in US-Pakistan relations, witnessed after the new government came into place, was quite short-lived. As the United States imposed sanctions on four entities for their alleged involvement in supplying “missile-applicable items” to Pakistan’s ballistic missile programme, one could be forgiven for thinking they we back in the “Do More” era of bilateral relations between the two.

While many commentators were satisfied with the smooth progress Pakistan was making in negotiations with the IMF and World Bank, the rest were waiting for the stick to drop while we chased the carrot. This is nothing new of course, Pakistan’s relationship with the US has always been measured and fine-tuned based on this approach. The specifics of the carrots and the sticks change, but the approach fundamentally remains the same. A few years ago, it was the FATF blacklist that acted as the stick, now it has changed to sanctions. Meanwhile, the promise of foreign investment dangles in the air as the carrot.

The Foreign Ministry’s response was logical and principled, calling out “double standards”, “arbitrary applications”, and “lack of due process”, but it will fall on deaf ears. To really find a way to reverse the sanctions, we must uncover what the US wants us to do.

The answer is not hard to find – the US Ambassador Donald Blome met with Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar to discuss “recent events in the region” on Thursday, the first time it has reached out to Pakistan to discuss Israel and Iran. Pakistan has notably condemned the Palestinian genocide carried out by the Zionist regime, has condemned the airstrike on the Iranian embassy in Damascus, and called Iran’s retaliation a legal one under international law. Furthermore, the Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s is scheduled for a three-day visit to Islamabad, due to start from Monday. Pakistan’s position is clear, consistent, moral, and logical – yet from the US security lens, it is unfavorable, and thus all levers must be utilized to change it.

This is what our politicians, diplomats, and military establishment must always keep in mind – the interests of the US are the maintenance of its global military hegemony, and Pakistan will become an ally or an enemy based solely on that determination. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, followed by the US one, should be evidence enough - favour flows when interests align.

Over the past decades, Pakistan has done well to wean itself from the US by developing strategic relations with other nations. That remains the only path to practical sovereignty.