Recently, the United States has been demanding that the Pakistani government should provide the US with a list of all the passengers who travel in and out of Pakistan. This demand was blatantly refused by Pakistan as it is direct interference and mediation in a country’s affairs. It jeopardizes the country’s sovereignty.

The demand followed after Faisal Shezad tried to bomb Times Square in May this year. Also related to this was the New York bombing planned by Najibullah Zazi who was captured in September 2009.

US Intelligence claims that a lot of foreigners, mainly Westerners travel into Pakistan and then undergo extensive military training. They also claim that both Faisal Shezad and Najibullah Zazi travelled to Pakistan to receive training.

The US needs Pakistan and its support in this war against terror, now more than ever. It can ask Pakistan but not force it against will. 70 to 80 percent of NATO supplies to Afghanistan are transported through Pakistan. After the recent drone killings of innocent Pakistani soldiers, Pakistan closed the borders for NATO supplies for 11 days. This led to the US apologizing for the cross border killings and also assuring that such an incident would not take place in future.

Pakistan has supported US in this war ever since 9/11. It has also suffered heavy damages, loss of precious human lives and infrastructure and a lot of security problems since then.

The US sometimes feels as if Pakistan is not doing enough or is not serious enough about this whole situation but, that is not the case. Pakistan has to fight terrorism inside and outside of its territory. Yet, at the same time, it has to value its sovereignty first and above all other things.