Pakistanis Fear US May Be Out to Carve Up Nation

Pakistanis are fearful that the US is part of an India-Afghanistan plot to carve up the nation, writes Jane Perlez in the New York Times. Those worries have been fueled by a theoretical map drawn by US neoconservatives featuring a shrunken Pakistan and larger neighbors. “One of the biggest fears is the collaboration between India and Afghanistan to destroy Pakistan,” said a Pakistani insider. “Some feel the United States is colluding in this.”

Pakistanis today, meanwhile, rallied to protest another US missile strike in the country’s border region—this one killing a British citizen, according to officials. US-Pakistani ties could be strengthened by focusing on the needs of particular regions, and by enlisting strong support from neighboring countries, particularly India, Perlez notes. But some Pakistanis aren’t sure they can trust the US to be fair, frustrated by what they see as a marked soft spot for India.
(More Pakistan stories.)