ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is assessing whether a recent move by US lawmakers to stop the American administration from funding the sale of eight F-16 jets is a ‘temporary hiccup’ in their roller coaster relationship or whether Washington will abandon Islamabad as it had done in the late 1980s.
Government and security officials suggested to The Express Tribune that while a complete breakdown in Pakistan-US relations is not imminent, there is greater urgency to prepare for the worst—a repeat of 1989 when the US abruptly left the region and imposed sanctions on Pakistan for pursuing a nuclear weapons programme.