As a nation, if at all we consider ourselves as one, we have committed many blunders and mistakes and suffered from tragedies one after the other during little more than six decades of existence. Dismemberment of the country being the greatest of all tragedies besides the selling of three rivers for peanuts. So on and so forth. But this scribe, and hopefully many would endorse, considers that not being able to differentiate between friends and foes is the biggest crime we have been repeatedly committing and continue to commit all these years. It is like living in a fool's paradise if we consider and regard the World's Number One Policeman, the USA, as our friend and an old ally and that India really wants to normalise relations with Pakistan and has accepted its existence as an independent, sovereign and free State. Some may term this as a sweeping statement on the part of this scribe. But before pointing an accusing finger they should go through the track record and what is happening now. How an ally has the right to strike inside the territorial limits of an old ally i.e. Pakistan? Allies do not use the language which the American leaders have been and are using, brushing aside all sacrifices and sufferings which Pakistan has and is undergoing as partner of the US led international War On Terror. NATO forces present in neighbouring Afghanistan, one of the two Muslim countries which the Bush Administration had attacked and captured since 9/11 incidents in order to fight terrorism, militancy and extremism only for safeguarding and preserving its own interests. The forces continue to resort to bombing and firing inside the Pakistani territory, killing innocent people and not even bothering to apologise. Air apace violations by spy planes almost daily are also being committed by the allies. It is a matter of record that Pakistan was pushed into the lap of the USA by its own leaders. But still the people are to be blamed for the continuous sufferings they tolerated at the hands of such leaders for long. Washington may be an ally, friend and protector of the Zionist state of Israel, which the whole world knows is the illegitimate baby of the US and it can never be that of a Muslim State. That too an atomic power like Pakistan. Those who regard and consider US as a friend are surely and certainly living in a fool's paradise, keeping their eyes shut to all the bitter ground realities. And it is also a painful and deplorable fact that for the sake of serving and preserving the US interests, Pakistan has at times been ignoring trust worthy and time tested friend like China. Like the US, India also cannot be a friend of Pakistan. Neither it is going to resolve the Kashmir issue nor is keen to normalise relations with Pakistan except in the sectors which serve the Indian interests in a covert or open manner. This scribe has also previously stated that India is very happy and friendly as long as its interests are being served and the Kashmir issue is not mentioned at all and gradually allowed to go into the oblivion. One can go on mentioning instances to prove the bitter fact that Washington and New Delhi are not and cannot be friends of Pakistan. It is high time that we start differentiating between friends and foes and treating them likewise. Political, diplomatic and other petty considerations should not be entertained at the cost of ignoring and selling the national interests for peanuts. It is for the people to decide whom they regard as friends and foes and accordingly, they should force the rulers to formulate the foreign policy. The country belongs to more than 160 million people and not just handful of rulers who are keeping their eyes shut to the ground realities in a very selfish manner, indeed. The writer is a freelance columnist