Roll of the Dice
Every military ruler of Pakistan has had an extended honeymoon with the US, Pervez Musharraf is no exception. Ayub Khan’s towering personality was tailor-made for the Cold War period when the US needed staunch friends in the region to counter the spread of communism. His autobiography “Friends, Not Masters” said it all. When the US imposed sanctions on both India and Pakistan because of the 1965 War, Ayub became a very disillusioned and disappointed man. Yahya Khan was tacitly encouraged on his accession to the President-ship in 1969, but it was his facilitating of Pakistan as a bridge to China (for Henry Kissinger’s historic, secret visit in July 1971) secured his position with the US. Even though the US Seventh Fleet never materialized in any Pakistan-supporting posture in the Bay of Bengal in 1971 during the Indo-Pak war as hinted by Henry Kissinger, the US dissuaded Indira Gandhi from expanding the war in the West Pakistan. Ziaul Haq was a pariah to the west when he ascended the throne for any number of reasons and remained so for the hanging of an elected PM, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in April 1979. When US President Jimmy Carter visited India, he pointedly ignored Pakistan. Thanks to the Russian misadventure in Afghanistan in late 1979, Zia became the darling of the west and Pakistan a cornerstone of US policy. It was only after Zia’s death that the US decertified Pakistan because of its suspected nuclear capability. When Pervez Musharraf countered the civilian “coup de etat” of another elected PM, Mian Nawaz Sharif, the US recognized by their diplomatic silence that the masses who thronged the streets were not registering any disapproval but were distributing sweets. In contrast to his imperial visit to India, President Clinton did make very brief whistle-stop stopover in Pakistan during his South Asian tour. And while he did not read out the riot act to his Pakistani military hosts, the US body language conveyed their muted displeasure at the state of affairs in Pakistan sans democracy. Pakistan’s hope of change of heart on a Republican taking over the White House took a nose-dive when the Bush Doctrine made it clear the US was ready to sacrifice Pakistan to gain India’s love, the US desirous that India (a la Chester Bowles May 1965 memo) be a counterweight to China in Asia.
The Pakistan Steel Story
By the mid-60s our economy was booming by comparable Asian standards but it was clear to the Pakistani economic planners that without a heavy industry we could never hope to become an industrial and/or economic giant. Therefore it was necessary to have our own integrated steel mill. 1968, the last year of Ayub Khan’s “Decade of Reforms”, saw the first concrete step taken towards that goal by registering The Pakistan Steel Mills Corporation (PSM) as a private limited company. In January 1971, an agreement was signed with the USSR by the much-maligned Yahya Khan Regime for technical and financial assistance in the construction of a coastal-based integrated steel complex. The events of 1971 interrupted further proceedings and it was not till almost three years later that the foundation stone of the single largest industrial complex in the country was laid in December 1973. As the Minister for Production in the Bhutto cabinet of the early 70s, PPP party theoretician, Secretary General and elder statesman J.A.Rahim guided the process towards early establishment. While there was no doubt that late Z.A.Bhutto was breathing down everyone’s neck in his enthusiasm and impatience to get the Steel Mills Project off the ground, it was late J.A.Rahim who successfully managed the inception to implementation stage, almost single-handedly ensuring the move of the location from Hawkesbay area to its present position at Pipri, thus avoiding an environmental disaster for Karachi. Late J.A.Rahim’s unceremonious exit as Party Secretary General and Minister for Production in 1975 threw the project off balance and it was not till 1976 that the construction work on the main plant was started. Looking back on it one must give credit to the first PPP regime for conceptual brilliance in bull-headedly pursuing this project against the analysis and professional advice of economic doomsayers.