choice for an American ally in South Asia. Unfortunately, Indian leadership had objectives of their own that did not coincide with those of the United States. India became a prime mover in the Non-Aligned Movement which was an anathema to American foreign policy that viewed as enemies all countries that did not ally themselves with the West. For the American leadership, these suspicions were validated when Prime Minister Nehru of India established cordial relations with the Soviet Union and accepted Soviet economic aid.
With India unreliable in American eyes, Pakistan was selected as the South Asian country with which to develop an alliance--a special relationship. As was to prove true around the globe, the American government was willing to turn a blind eye to a whole host of abuses against human rights and democratic principles as long as a country demonstrated that it was a reliable American ally in the Cold War. Pakistan proved to be such an ally.
When the Soviet Union became entangled in Afghanistan, Pakistan provided bases and camps for the mujaheddin rebels, and the United States provided the military equipment and funds to support the rebel forces. In return, the United States agreed to sell Pakistan 60 F-16 fighter-bombers and to continue the $600 million in annual financial aid to Pakistan. Prior to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Pakistani-American relations had fallen on hard times over nuclear disputes and American aid to Pakistan had been suspended. Following that invasion, however, "Pakistan was upgraded to the role of a frontline state worthy of support."
The Soviet Union by this time was on the brink of domestic collapse. The crumbling of the Soviet Union in 1989 and 1990 led many political observers and analysts to proclaim that the international political environment had ceased to be one of a bipolar character in which the United States and the Soviet Union were the principal play...