Today, we have to live with the consequences. We should be honest. Pakistan and the United States have never been and, in the present circumstances, are unlikely to become partners or allies. Inequality has always been the central feature of this relationship. It remains that way as Nawaz Sharif meets Bill Clinton.
Inequality entails a fundamental imbalance in any relationship, and especially between nations.
To pretend otherwise is to court disaster once more. Equality in power or wealth is, of course, not essential to achieving equal relations. What count are the extent of autonomy, self-reliance and integrity of a nation's posture. These define a nation's will and capacity to act as an equal partner with others. Pakistan's ruling establishment has continually deprived the country of precisely these attributes.