Pakistan’s history of the US sanctions

Pakistan was touted as the most allied ally of the US but practically it was not since it was the most sanctioned country.

When George W. Bush decided to invade Afghanistan in order to avenge the attacks in New York and Washington 

The recent times have seen upheavals at the global, regional and domestic levels.

The foundations of Pakistan-US relations were laid in 1954 when Pakistan in search of security against

The nation celebrated the 145th birth anniversary of the founder of Pakistan Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah today on 25th December with zeal and fervor. 

Donald J. Trump of the opposition Republican Party won the presidential race against the ruling Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton in November 2016 who had three million more votes than Trump, 

Imran Khan (IK) leading PTI won the elections in July 2018 against his main contestant PML-N and formed governments in the Centre, Punjab and KP but got a plate full of complex problems. 

Strategically located Balochistan turned into substantial framework of regional connectivity due to   China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).  After cancellation of contract with Port of Singapore Authority (PSA), on 18 Feb 2013, 

The year 2020 upon which we had pinned high hopes for better days ahead is proving to be another difficult year. The whole world is in a flux and hardly any corner is safe from troubles.

India reluctantly accepted the Partition plan as a stopgap arrangement under the fond hope that it will not survive beyond six months. To make it happen, Bengal and Punjab were bifurcated, Pakistan’s share of finances and other assets withheld, nine million of destitute refugees forced to migrate from East Punjab and Central India.

The shortage of food and food security is the biggest scare and panic creator in the times of crises and difficulty and it gets worsened over time. It may have been better in the previous decades but currently, 

The historic plan of June 3, 1947 stipulated partition of the Indian subcontinent into two dominions on the principles of self-determination for contagious Muslim majority states for Pakistan and non-Muslims for India. The 562 princely states were free to accede either to Pakistan or India giving due credence to communal demographic milieus.

The Taliban regime under Mullah Omar took over power after capturing Kabul in October 1996. It managed to eliminate war lordism, poppy growing and crimes and restore normalcy by introducing strict Sharia.

Donald J. Trump of the opposition Republican Party won the presidential race against the ruling Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton in November 2016 who had three million more votes than Trump, but lost in the Electoral College having 538 decisive votes, in which Trump secured 306 electoral votes. Electoral College is confined to few right leaning States where till recent whites have been in majority. Trump won because he was the choice of predatory capitalist corporations and the Zionists.

Kashmir is the unfinished agenda of the Partition in 1947 which was left behind by the British and it has bedeviled Indo-Pakistan relations. The two arch rivals went to war thrice over Kashmir and reached the brink of war several times even when both acquired nuclear capabilities.

At the times when other countries were reporting a drastic increase in the cases, Pakistan was keeping the virus at bay.  Pakistan, although, sharing the borders with most infected areas of coronavirus, like China and Iran, has been far more successful in controlling the virus.  

We are the tools and vassals of rich men behind the scenes. We are the jumping-jacks; they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes." - John Swinton, editor of the New York Tribune, in the 1880s, at a banquet of his fellow editors.

During the Cold War, the two antagonists – USA and former Soviet Union - in their bid to safeguard the vital western and eastern hemispheres and to increase respective spheres of influence within the crush zone residing in the 3rd world, made use of 12-memer NATO and 23-member Warsaw Pact countries.

COVID-19 virus started in China, spread over 210 countries, engaged over 1705000 (and death toll recorded 105000 globally since December 2019. Turkmenistan, North Korea, Tajikistan and Yemen are free from VOVID-19   countries, probably due to less travelling history in these countries.  

There are different and new guidance implemented to help in curbing and protecting children and schools from the pandemic. The World Health Organization is in the front line providing the practical considerations that will help in keeping schools safe. There are precautions in place to assist in implementing and adapting to emergency plans for all educational facilities.