Pakistani analysts fear US deployment of aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to Arabian Sea is not meant for Iran but Pakistan, China

Islamabad: The US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln has arrived in the Arabian waters. The US has announced that the deployment comes against the threat Iran poses to the US interests in the region. However, the presence of the USS Lincoln in the Mideast waters has terrified Pakistan. The Pakistani analysts suspect the objective behind the deployment of the US vessels and say that it may not be to counter Iran but to target Pakistan instead. They fear that the US has initiated activities in the region to deliver a blow to China along with Pakistan given the state’s Gwadar port, which is currently being developed by China and is within range of the US arsenal.

At present, Afghanistan is undergoing significant developments while the Taliban has initiated an alarming series of terror attacks in the country. It is thus mounting the challenges before the US, which was preparing for the withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan. The US military officials, as also the analysts, have consistently accused Pakistan of being responsible for the Taliban’s aggression. The Trump Administration, therefore, considers the situation extremely critical. Under the circumstances, the US Analyst Michelle Rubin has demanded the US to strike the Taliban terror camps to teach Pakistan a lesson. Moreover, Rubin made the US acutely aware of the situation by stating that Washington would have to attack Pakistan to win the fight against terror in Afghanistan.

The USS Abraham Lincoln has hence been sent to the Arabian Sea. The aircraft carrier accommodates 90 fighters and a crew of 3,200 members. The nuclear-capable warship has the ability to cause significant damage to the enemy and is accompanied by five destroyers and one fleet of submarines. Also, the US has asserted that the deployment has been made to counter the perceived threat from Iran, although President Trump has stated that he does not expect a war with the Islamic Republic. Furthermore, Pakistani analysts strongly believe that the US was unlikely to strike Iran while even Israel was not contemplating an attack on Tehran.

Taking all the factors into account, the presence of USS Abraham Lincoln close to the Pakistani waters is believed to be quite obvious, to target Pakistan, fear Pakistani analysts. The US may target the Gwadar port that China is constructing in Pakistan, which would hit both the nations simultaneously. Likewise, the analysts have underscored that the port was extremely critical to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and that the US was opposed to the project.

Additionally, the analysts are panic-stricken and unsettled with the thought of the US taking India’s support to curb Pakistan. ‘The strategic partnership between the US and India primarily aims to stop China and Pakistan. The two nations would soon pose challenges before Islamabad’, Pakistani journalists warn. As a result, the deployment of the massive nuclear-capable warship USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian waters has terrified Pakistan.

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