Having solid relations with the US are a compulsion, regardless of any right-wing propaganda.
For as long as a unipolar system is prevalent in the world, robust economic and security ties with the US have to be maintained for a country like Pakistan which does not have oil or any other significant resources to fall back on.
Most members here know this but fail to acknowledge this dependency because they have bought into IK's anti-US rhetoric hook, line and sinker. I can guarantee that if IK comes back to power, he will walk back on this strong rhetoric (primarily for domestic consumption) because this is a road to nowhere and nobody knows this better than IK and those who have sat in the chair, so I expect a full U-turn on his part when back in the hot-seat. Anything contrary is a complete and utter dead-end for at least another decade if not more for anyone wanting to walk-down this anti-American path. Keep in mind that IMF, WB, FATF, etc. all roads lead back to the US and there is no Chinese or Russian or Khaleeji alternate to any of these.
Second point, the military is facts based. It is looking at its existing capabilities and realizing that no matter what we get from China, it does not address the high-end of the technology spectrum just yet (our Chinese friends are looking at the same and they too realize that there is some catching up to do, no slight on what they graciously assist Pakistan with here) specially when our adversary is introducing a lot of high-end western gear. A case in point is the dismal performance of the Russian hardware against low-end, but high-tech western weaponry in the Ukraine war. Such lessons from this war are not lost on those in uniform.
Our high-end weapons systems are all US based. There is a reason for this. When push comes to shove, it is these very same American made artillery guns that fire thousands upon thousands of rounds without requiring a change of the barrels on account of the quality of metallurgy used. For the young generation so brought up on to this anti-amreekanism, it was the famous "AAA" that was touted by Pakistan in the 1965 war as its savior. Depending on whom you talk with, it was Allah, Army and the Air Force for some and Allah, Army and Artillery for others. At least two of the "A"s (AF and Artillery) were American origin and the Army was a US trained one which gave the country a fighting chance.
Even today, it is the high performance engines and airframes in the F-16s that can fly 12,000 hours, over their life, which is unmatched by any Russian/Chinese platforms. The Turks did what IK is doing, i.e. went full bore on anti-Americanism, then realized that they have no option but to go back to the American alignment (thus the request for F-16V upgrades for their Air Force).
So as I always say, naray-baazi and talk of khuddari are all fine, but these alone do not give confidence to those who have to carry out the job of fighting. Not having effective, modern combat aviation is already resulting in massive casualties in the FATA. Not being able to leverage EDA via MNNA is impacting the fight in both Balochistan and the FATA. If even IK on a populist platform could not make peace in these two areas (despite him claiming that nobody knows FATA/KP better than he does), the only option is to fight the anti-state elements and when doing so, having access to the best technology to do the job is a must and currently, US is the only source with such options.
Our Ertugril-fan club should also realize that Turkey has gone full circle and is now open to dealing with the Americans. They realized that at least currently and for the next decade plus, America is the dominant power with whom dealings cannot be put off. The Pakistani establishment has very correctly and objectively arrived at this very same conclusion.
