Zahir Kazmi The US Secretary of State's five-day long India yatra was significant in many ways. The tone was set by keeping Pakistan out of Clinton's itinerary. She preempted to assuage Pakistan's concerns with a statement that Pakistan need not worry about the Indo-US strategic relations, however, re-stamped Kashmir as a 'bilateral' issue in the same breath. India was told that the Bald Eagle now considers it a global power. Clinton reiterated that the civilian nuclear agreement between the US and India will not be held hostage to India's signing of CTBT; rather she was assured that America will determine an 'appropriate' non-proliferation programme for the future. The two sides also agreed to allow India to buy fighter jets and space technology from the US and let the American companies set up two nuclear power plants in India. They only differed on India's refusal to cut green house gases. Immediately after Clinton's visit, Indian Army Chief Gen Kapoor went on a visit to US to further defence cooperation between the two countries that includes strategic partnership on countering terrorism. Interestingly all US commitments and concessions to Delhi during Clinton's visit paled to convince India that Pakistan has reduced its alleged reliance on militant proxies to keep India's hands tied. Instead Pakistan's proofs that India's involvement in the spate of terrorist attacks in Pakistan was trashed by India and did not gain American attention either. Such treatment baffles a common and informed Pakistani alike and exacerbates disenchantment towards the US. The assurances that Indo-US partnership will not affect latter's relations with Pakistan are difficult to absorb. Barring the official stance, there is a perception in Pakistan that it has never been amply rewarded for its support to the US. Such a sentiment is partially true and equally false. There are some ground realities that every Pakistani must understand. Owing to myriad factors India is a natural choice once it comes to seeking an ally in the region. In past, Pakistan could have exploited its unique geographical significance to great advantage but its chequered democratic history, poor governance, corruption, failure to prop-up the flagging economy and growing extremism have always stood in its way. If it weren't the nuclear deterrent a weak Pakistan would have been Finlandised by India by now. Undoubtedly, Pakistan needs to learn a lot from China. Determined societies can change and China changed faster than expected. Last December they celebrated the 30 years of reformation initiated by Deng Xiaoping. In this short time span China has grown to be a power that Americans respect grudgingly and have propped India up to act as a buffer against the former. We can also undo our 62 years of follies albeit challenges are far greater than what our friends to the north faced.