A NEW survey conducted by Washington’s Pew Research Centre shows that only 11 per cent of Pakistanis view the US and President Obama favourably. In fact, the survey was concluded on April 26 — about a week before the Americans discovered Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad. The ratings must have plummeted since the operation and last week’s double-drone US strike inside Pakistani territory. As the Obama administration asks tough questions of Pakistan, and as US congressmen call on the administration to review the country’s commitment to the war on terror before providing further aid, the American image is reaching new lows in the eyes of the Pakistani public. But the latter’s perception has never bothered Washington which is likely to continue on the current trajectory for some time before it thrashes out new terms of engagement with Islamabad. The new package will probably contain greater accountability as a condition for the continuation of financial assistance that has seen more than $20bn transferred from the US to Pakistan over the last one decade.

If the US is exerting pressure for a fresh understanding with Pakistan, Islamabad is not indicating that it will succumb easily to a new set of rules. Led by the civilian-military combine, Pakistan understands how valuable it still is to the Obama administration in its war on terror, and has in recent days been found conveying the message through old friend and powerful regional player China. Supposedly, the big question is: will Pakistan and the US come round to continuing the partnership once they have redefined ties and laid out the terms yet again? The present signs are that there is no other option available to the two uneasy partners.

The US cannot leave the war halfway, while beneath the political sloganeering spiked by the recent raid, Pakistan has failed to find a near-feasible replacement for American financial assistance. There is no harm in thinking in terms of self-reliance but the alternative that has been suggested centres more on emotions than economic logic. In these times of heightened tensions, when each side is accusing the other of betrayal, the give-and-take aspect may appear difficult to conclude, but it is what the two countries seem to be headed for once again. The same fears and accusations and counter-accusations have persisted throughout the years that Pakistan and the US have been allies in the war on terror. For good or bad, the basic fact is that the circumstances have not altered, at least not to an extent where the prospect of a parting of ways appears imminent.