There is considerable euphoria in Pakistan about what is considered a remarkable improvement in its relations with the administration of the United States under President Donald Trump and the channel that Delhi’s links in Washington seem to have hit.
But is this euphoria well founded and will last? Some observers are already calling for change in relations between the United States and Pakistan a realignment and a change of direction. If this ‘realignment’ means a Beijing change for Islamabad, then I suspect that these analysts may not have it well. This is simply because Beijing represents the type of reliable partner and friend on which Islamabad has depended more and more on many of its economic needs and infrastructure development. Pakistan also remains an integral part of the Belt and Road initiative of China.
More significantly, with a Hindu nationalist government more and more belligerent in charge in New Delhi, which is constantly kicking the anti-Pakistan feeling to consolidate its communal support base, Islamabad needs military hardware to deter Indian ambitions, in addition to the nuclear deterrence, of course.
That said, there are opportunities for Pakistan that are not part of a zero sum game. Unlike the United States, China’s relationship not only with Pakistan, but also in other nations it is not based on ‘you are with us or against us’. It is much more nuanced and pragmatic, because for now it focuses on economic development and trade.
It would be naive to assume that ties between global powers depend on relatively lower problems.
Western democracies often point with their fingers for the lack of political freedoms and human rights of China. But they rarely praise how China has released 800 million people from poverty in just 40 years. And in the current state of the game, particularly in Gaza, where almost the entire “democratic” west is complicit in ethnic cleaning there, while suppressing domestic dissent over this policy, they barely have one leg to endure when they pontificate about freedoms. The Palestinians of Gaza are denied the most basic freedom: the right to life.
For now, two things have gone in favor of Pakistan. First, Islamabad attached the correct type of importance to Trump’s narcissism. He nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize, and gave his “hard leader” an impulse to impulse quickly and extradite one of the defendants in the bombing of Kabul airport ‘Abbey Gate’. The attack, which occurred in August 2021 during the withdrawal of the United States, left 13 US service personnel and almost 200 dead Afghan.
Then, when India attacked the Pakistani objectives in May last year after a terrorist attack in Cashmiro controlled by India, and the United States asked both parties to delay, the US sources say, Islamabad responded quickly and gave the narcissistic leader a ‘victory’. Trump does not tire of claiming the pacifier mantle for himself. This massaged his endless ego.
On the other hand, those who know say that the prime minister of India, Narendra Modi, made two movements that bother Trump. According to the reports, the first was to cancel a meeting with Trump during his visit to the United States last year when the then presidential candidate was in the campaign.
The Indians firmly deny that any meeting has been scheduled, but during a campaign direction on September 17, Trump said he would be gathering Modi. Diplomatic sources said Modi’s meetings were accumulated with presidential candidates: Trump and Kamala Harris. The latter had to cancel his meeting due to a last minute development and, therefore, his team informed Modi to also cancel Trump’s meeting so that he did not seem to be gathering/ supporting a candidate. If it is true, this must have bruit Trump’s huge ego.
It is said that another irritating arose during the aggression of India against Pakistan in May of this year. The American leaders were working on the phones to put a lid in the conflict before he left control and the two nations in southern Asia told the White House that they would descalize. But India went ahead and launched attacks with retaliation missiles for losing a shameful number of combat aircraft in combat, which led to the base of the main assets of the IAF for two days. Pakistan also retaliates and in the small hours of May 10, it is said that a senior Pakistan official informed the Secretary of State of the United States, Marco Rubio, that the dismissal of India of double -use missiles was a dangerous climb and Pakistan was exercising a restriction only at the request of the United States.
According to the reports, this also caused the ties to crack, since Trump could have felt that India chose to allege America by saying a thing and do the opposite. Although India responded to the renewed effort of the United States and Trump was able to announce a high fire had been triggered.
The event chain may have contributed to the deterioration of ties between the United States and India, but it would be naive to assume that the relations between global powers depend only on such relatively small problems, even if some of the leaders have swollen the egos.
The main irritating in the ties between the United States and India is the BRICS membership of the latter country, where Russia and China have joined Brazil, India, South Africa and a large number of smaller countries to create a commercial block. The group is looking for the idea of a new currency for trade without the US dollar. If this happened, the dollar would lose its preeminence and the world would find a way to avoid sanctions through a new payment system. The United States finds it intolerable, even if many see it as inevitable.
The United States has been supporting India as a Chinese counter, and New Delhi is now also part of the quad that includes the United States, Australia and Japan. That is why BRICS membership of India is considered incompatible with the strategic architecture of the West in Asia. India may have followed a foreign policy maintaining its own most important interest. Now he is pressing to choose sides.
Therefore, some teasing of the social networks of India by Trump, including the predictions of the end of the world about their economy and the new tariffs, have more to do with putting India online. If it works, the euphoria of Pakistan can be of short duration. If not, we would have ring seats for an interesting game.
The writer is a former Dawn editor.
abbas.nasir@hotmail.com
Posted in Dawn, August 3, 2025
