The relationship between Pakistan and the US has been like a rollercoaster ride where there is less cheering and more screaming. The ride started smoothly and at a steady pace in 1947 when the US was one of the first countries to recognise an independent Pakistan. Some examples of this initial cooperation were projects such as the Institute for Business Administration and the Jinnah Post-Graduate Medical Centre, as well as construction of several power plants. Since 1948, the US has pledged more than $ 30 billion in direct aid, about half for military assistance and approximately more than two thirds was appropriated in the post-2001 period. Pakistan has been among the leading recipients of US aid both historically and in the recent past but the levels of assistance have fluctuated considerably over the past six decades. This could largely be attributed to US foreign policy objectives. Aid levels witnessed a peak in 1962 when Pakistan was part of two regional defence pacts, the Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO) and Central Treaty Organisation (CENTO). In contrast, US aid was at its lowest levels in the 1990s after the withdrawal of the Soviet army from Afghanistan in 1989 and in 1990 because of its nuclear activities. This abandonment left a lasting effect on Pakistan’s perception of the US as an unreliable ally. However, after 9/11, the Pak-US relationship took a dramatic turn and Pakistan emerged as a strategic partner in the war against terror. In 2002, the first post-9/11 US fiscal year, aid increased nearly eleven fold from $ 187.7 million in 2001 to $ 2,000 million. A most critical addition to a very exhaustive list of US efforts to improve Pakistan’s economic and social progress was the famous Kerry-Lugar-Berman bill. The bill authorised the US president to provide $ 1.5 billion in annual non-military aid to Pakistan for five years, from 2010 to 2014, but the actual disbursements fell significantly short of the $ 1.5 billion cap. Corresponding to the level of aid, if we look at the Pakistani perception about the US, it seems that the level of aid has proportionally fuelled anti-US sentiments amongst Pakistanis. A study conducted by the Pew Research Centre in 2012 suggests that there is no correlation between US humanitarian aid and Pakistani views about the US. In the early years of resumption of aid (2003), the highest percentage of Pakistanis, 81 percent, had unfavourable views about the US, with the lowest percentage noticed in 2006 at 56 percent. Even US assistance during the catastrophic floods in 2010 could not change this. The US has provided more than $ 700 million in related humanitarian assistance but, in the very next year, 75 percent Pakistanis were found to have anti-US views, in contrast to 68 percent in 2010. The situation resulted in some corrective measures on the US’s part; one of them was a major shift in branding policy. In 2011, the US government started practicing more aggressive branding for the delivery of its assistance. The US Mission in Pakistan started requiring the display of US flags along with its logo so that illiterate Pakistanis became aware of the origin of assistance. The Urdu version of the aid logo has also been seen in messages targeting the general public. Even a previous ban on branding requirements for programmes in FATA was replaced with case-to-case evaluation. The implementation of such aggressive policies compromised a great deal the security of the staff involved in the delivery of assistance, especially at the grassroots level. A number of significant incidents have happened since 2001 to shape anti-US opinion amongst ordinary Pakistanis, one of which was the way drone strikes were conducted in northwest Pakistan, killing an unknown number of innocent people. A very strong reaction was witnessed from almost all political parties and the Pakistani media. From 2004 to 2013, drone strikes have killed an estimated 3,213 people in Pakistan comprising less than two percent ‘high profile’ targets while others have been children, civilians and combatants. The anger associated with US drone strikes is considered a major source of the country’s rampant anti-US sentiment. Another major setback to the Pak-US relationship was the Osama bin Laden raid in May 2011. The al Qaeda founder was located and killed in Abbottabad city in an operation conducted by US SEALS. For a wide array of observers, this left a question mark on the competence of Pakistan’s military and intelligence services. However, Pakistan’s military strongly reacted and warned that it would not tolerate any future incursions, followed by strong condemnation by parliament. According to a Gallup Pakistan survey, 51 percent of Pakistanis say they were “sad” at bin Laden’s death. Another notable development was the Raymond Davis affair. In January 2011, Raymond Davis, a US citizen working in the US Consulate, Lahore, shot and killed two men in urban traffic and was caught by the police. The incident was blown up by the media in Pakistan. To everyone’s surprise, Davis was freed and flown out of Pakistan in less than three months. It is an established fact that despite the mammoth assistance, both military and economic, the US has failed miserably to achieve its objective of winning hearts and minds here. In contrast, China is perceived by the general public as a trustworthy and long-standing ally even though the aid and loans provided by China are nothing close to that given by the US. Between 2004 and 2009, China provided only nine million dollars in grant assistance and $ 217 million in loans to Pakistan. Pro-China sentiments are based on a strong bilateral relationship and economic ties between the two neighbours. Pakistan aims to boost the annual trade volume with China from $ 12 billion to $ 20 billion. It is time for the US to revisit its public diplomacy and ensure that assistance is aimed at long-term development improvements, not short-term public diplomacy gains. While the process of withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan is near completion, there is a feeling that the US may repeat its 1990s mistake and leave Pakistan struggling with the aftermath of the war on terror. The US must clear the air and announce its future engagement plan with Pakistan, ensuring that development assistance is continued in a sustained manner. The writer is a freelance columnist