Prime Minister Imran Khan has made anti-Americanism a staple of his political identity, and he now claims that Washington is behind the effort to remove him from power. It’s only the latest turn in the turbulent relationship that Pakistan and the United States have had for years.
After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Pakistan — then led by President Pervez Musharraf, an army general — agreed to work with the United States as it pursued Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. For several years, Pakistan’s spy agency, the Inter-Service Intelligence Directorate, cooperated with the C.I.A., arresting a number of top Qaeda and Taliban leaders and handing them over.
But by 2006, the relationship was deteriorating. In Afghanistan, which neighbors Pakistan, the Taliban had regrouped after being driven from power by the United States-led invasion, and it was coming back in force, taking a toll on American as well as Afghan troops. American officials accused Pakistan’s powerful military of letting Taliban leaders maintain safe havens across the border, on Pakistani soil.
The low point in the relationship came in 2011, when American Special Forces flew into Pakistan and killed Osama bin Laden, the top Qaeda leader, at a compound in the northern town of Abbottabad, where he had been living. Pakistan insisted it had been unaware of Bin Laden’s presence there, near the military’s main training academy.
American drone strikes in Pakistan, targeting militants but often killing bystanders, also created tension between Washington and Islamabad. The strikes began in 2004 and continued for years, peaking in 2010. Publicly, Pakistan condemned them, though some officials quietly acknowledged their effectiveness against militant groups. But the deaths of innocent people stoked anger in Pakistan, which was capitalized on by anti-American politicians like Mr. Khan.
After the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan last year, Mr. Khan, as prime minister, ruled out letting the United States establish a military base in Pakistan. His government also said American intelligence and counterterrorism agencies would not be allowed to operate within Pakistan’s borders.
But Pakistan’s military, which has pulled its support for Mr. Khan, has made it clear that it is willing to work with the United States. Last month, Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, the head of the army, said Pakistan shared “a long and excellent strategic relationship with the U.S.”