The way to procure insults is to submit to them. A man meets with no more respect than he exacts. Hazlitt Senior officials in the incumbent American administration are now trying to play down the damage caused not only to the credibility of the Pentagon, but also the way US policies, both military and diplomatic, have been exposed by WikiLeaks. To make things worse for the US, British Prime Minister David Cameron following the lead tried to please his Indian hosts when he levelled a wild accusation against Pakistan saying that it was exporting terror and this was mainly directed against India. This statement unleashed a firestorm in the Indian media that jumped on the opportunity which was provided by Mr Cameron by acting in the most undiplomatic manner in recent history. Even the shadow British Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, described Cameron as a loud mouth and severely criticised him for damaging Pak-UK relations. Needless to say, the Americans and the Europeans are conscious of the fact that no other country has suffered as much as Pakistan, due to its resolve to combat the menace of terrorism. Not only has Pakistan sacrificed thousands of lives, but its economy has also suffered colossal damage of nearly $50 billion. However, the leaked documents could be a design by the hostile forces that have vested interests to unnecessarily increase pressure on Pakistan to do more, so that it keeps dancing to their tune. More importantly, since most of the documents leaked relate to the so-called war on terror, one is tempted to believe that WikiLeaks could have been prepared by the Indians, in collaboration with their Afghan puppets, to convince the US administration on the strategy that is being followed by New Delhi for quite a long time. While Hussain Haqqani, Pakistans Ambassador to the US, has dismissed the allegations as being obsolete and bearing no relevance to the resolve of the Pakistani government to fight the war on terror. No one can deny the fact that it was the US, who wanted Pakistans agencies to cooperate with the mujahideen in Afghanistan, when they were fighting against the Russian occupation forces. Therefore, it is quite natural that some of the remaining elements of the mujahideen perhaps know some officials in Pakistans security forces. But this certainly does not mean that the Pakistanis were supporting - let alone training - these forces of doom, who have committed the worst possible atrocities in Pakistan. While Pakistanis have reacted sharply to what the British Prime Minister has recently said, there have been loud cries against his government by nearly all the political forces in Pakistan and some had even demanded that the visit of President Asif Ali Zardari to Britain should have been cancelled, as a rebuke to the British government. As far as the US is concerned, Defence Secretary Robert Gates has admitted that the leakage of the secret documents was a serious matter which could put the Americans in Afghanistan in danger and dry up some of the Afghan sources, which were available to them before the WikiLeaks episode. Another important issue that remains to be reviewed is the demand by Afghan President Hamid Karzai to the US and NATO forces to attack safe havens of the Taliban inside Pakistan. Although this malicious demand made was outrightly rejected by Washington, it clearly indicates the dangers that the Afghan-Indian nexus pose for Pakistan; it should indeed be an eye-opener for our leadership. Further, it is quite strange that on one hand the US has been propagating that it is not possible for its army to win the war in Afghanistan without Pakistans help, while on the other hand its stooge - Mr Karzai - has the audacity to demand that the US and its allies to attack certain areas in this country. So after Karzais statement, it would have been appropriate if the Government of Pakistan had at least suspended the memorandum of understanding signed with Afghanistan that allows it transit facilities to promote trade through our soil. Pakistan should send a strong message to the Afghan President. For that, its leadership should exercise whatever clout it has to ensure that he behaves in future. Meanwhile, the US should nudge India for an honourable settlement of the contentious issue of the Indian Held Kashmir. It must also ensure that the Indians must stop funding and arming insurgents, who easily crossover to create trouble in Pakistan, especially Balochistan. However, it is time that Pakistan also redefined its foreign policy and developed a strategy that would not allow any country to take it for granted. To achieve such an objective will certainly be a test of the political will of the present government and also of all the major political leaders, who must provide a helping hand so that Pakistan can present a united effort to overcome all the conspiracies by its most dedicated enemies. Some so-called analysts argue that Pakistan has limited options keeping in view its weak economy but this does not mean that it (Pakistan), which is positioned in a strategic location, has run out of options. All that is required is some vision and proper planning by the leadership that could facilitate not only sustaining and strengthening Pakistans integrity and sovereignty, but also creating a thriving democracy that will help it to stand on its feet. In addition, no compromises should be made whatsoever which have the possibility of damaging the sovereignty or the self-respect of Pakistan. This does not mean that Pakistan should spoil its relations with the world at large; however, it means to evolve better options and pursue national objectives with more vigour and purpose. The PPP-led government should evolve a strategy that should tackle all the problems, which is due to the machinations of the hostile forces, in a dignified manner. The writer is a freelance columnist. Email: zarnatta@hotmail.com