Islamabad, Nov 8: Most Pakistanis desired a Mitt Romney victory, a newspaper said Thursday, adding Islamabad will now have to again work with Barack Obama despite “an unhappy (US-Pakistan) marriage”.
“President Obama has presided over the deepest trough in US-Pakistan relations in decades, and historically Pakistan has had better relations with the US under a Republican president,” The News International said.
The daily pointed out that it was the growing number of drone attacks under Obama that had led to “a powerful anti-Americanism that reaches deep into the nation”.
However, the Afghan endgame would mean that Pakistan's role in the peace prospects in Afghanistan will come to the fore, it added in an editorial.
“The US and Pakistan will have to work closely - in an unhappy marriage of convenience - on conflict mitigation, and Pakistan's role vis-à-vis brokerage with and between various groups vying for power in Afghanistan will be crucial,” it said.
The Daily Times said the next four years of Obama were unlikely to bring anything radically different in terms of policy.
“There is no gainsaying the fact though that Islamabad will have to cut its cloth according to what largesse or otherwise flows from Washington from now on,” it said.
“The US has been trying through carrot and stick methods to get Pakistan to abandon the use of proxies for jehadi extremism, but this is far from an accomplished fact, despite the enormous costs of continuing with that outdated policy for Pakistan itself.”
The daily warned that despite America's economic difficulties, no country could afford to ignore Washington.
“Pakistan will have to revisit and re-examine its relations with what may well be a far more confident Obama administration that may get tougher with Pakistan regarding Afghanistan and terrorism,” it said.
“The days ahead therefore promise ‘interesting times'.”
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