Humza Jilani in Islamabad, John Reed in New Delhi and James Politi in Washington
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Pakistan’s chief of army staff Asim Munir smiled for the camera this weekend, arm in arm with a top American general — his second warm welcome this summer into the heart of the US establishment.
Munir travelled to Florida for the retirement of General Michael Kurilla, the commander of US military forces in the Mideast, who has previously praised the Pakistan strongman for a “phenomenal partnership” in the fight against terrorism. To General Dan Caine, America’s top military officer, Munir passed a plaque and an invitation to visit Pakistan.
Even more remarkably, in June Munir had a two-hour private lunch in Washington with Donald Trump, just a month after Pakistan and arch-rival India fought their bloodiest military confrontation for decades.
It was an astonishing reception for a man who, despite wielding the country’s most powerful office, is not a head of government — and even more so for an official representing Pakistan. Relations with Washington were assumed to be heading for the rocks after the re-election of Trump, who once accused the nuclear-armed country of 240mn people of offering the US “nothing but lies and deceit”.
Instead, the Trump administration’s ties with Islamabad appear to be blossoming, while India — which was left seething by Munir’s White House welcome — has faced scorn despite Narendra Modi’s previous friendly bond with the US president.
“What’s happening in US-Pakistan relations is a surprise,” said Michael Kugelman, a non-resident senior fellow at the Asia Pacific Foundation. “I would describe the relationship now as one that’s enjoying an unexpected resurgence, even a renaissance. Pakistan has very successfully understood how to engage with such an unconventional president.”
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Donald Trump claimed credit for brokering a ceasefire between Pakistan and India in May © Reuters
India and Pakistan’s contrasting diplomatic fortunes have the potential to upend geopolitics in volatile south Asia and are already feeding into trade, where the US gave Islamabad a relatively light 19 per cent tariff while hitting New Delhi with a punitive 50 per cent.
Trump also promised a deal to develop what he called Pakistan’s “massive oil reserves”, while Islamabad is offering other investment opportunities to the US, hoping to revive its bailout-dependent economy.
The newfound US admiration for Pakistan is partly the fruit of a charm offensive concocted by Pakistan’s senior generals, leveraging counterterrorism co-operation, outreach to business people close to Trump and deals covering energy, critical minerals and cryptocurrencies — all accompanied by a cascade of flattery for the White House.
Leaders in Islamabad believed they needed to urgently get into the good graces of the erratic president and some of his allies who had been deeply critical of Pakistan over its alleged support for the Taliban during Nato’s war in Afghanistan.
Project 2025, a pre-election blueprint that has inspired many early Trump administration moves, lambasted Pakistan’s military-dominated regime as an “intensely anti-American and corrupt” client of China. Members of the president’s inner circle also targeted increasingly autocratic Pakistan’s treatment of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan. A bipartisan group in Congress began to draft legislation to impose sanctions on Munir over Khan’s imprisonment.
“We had no idea what to expect with him, but the general consensus was that it was likely going to be rough,” said one senior Pakistani diplomat.
Pakistan’s turnaround was helped early on by what the US saw as an important arrest. In March Asim Malik, the head of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency, delivered a high-value Isis-K operative who the US said was behind a 2021 bombing in Kabul that killed more than 180 people, including 13 US soldiers. His capture earned Pakistan Trump’s praise in his March State of the Union address, when the US president also lambasted India over high tariffs.
Crucially, too, Pakistan deployed a form of crypto diplomacy to make its way into Trump’s inner circle.
Commuters ride past a billboard in Lahore, Pakistan
Project 2025, a pre-election blueprint that has inspired many early Trump administration moves, lambasted Pakistan’s military-dominated regime as an ‘intensely anti-American and corrupt’ client of China © Aamir Qureshi/AFP/ Getty Images
World Liberty Financial, a Trump-backed cryptocurrency venture, signed a letter of intent with Pakistan’s crypto council in April, when its co-founders visited Pakistan. Zach Witkoff, the son of US special envoy Steve Witkoff, said during the trip that Pakistan had “trillions of dollars” of mineral wealth ripe for tokenisation.
Since then, Bilal bin Saqib, Pakistan’s minister for crypto and blockchain, has emerged as a shadow diplomat, taking part in trade talks with Washington and pitching Pakistan’s crypto potential to figures close to Trump’s family and advisers.
Pakistani officials also point to their conduct during the May conflict with India as having bolstered their credibility with Trump. In their telling, Pakistan displayed a combination of strength and restraint, shooting down a handful of Indian jets but refraining from massive escalation, while the US and Gulf states worked the phones to secure a ceasefire.
Islamabad also gave credit to Trump for brokering the truce with New Delhi — to the point of nominating the US president for the Nobel Peace Prize. Trading his khakis for a suit and tie this weekend, Munir again heaped praise on Trump when speaking to a group of Pakistani-Americans in Tampa.
Munir said the president’s “strategic leadership” had prevented “many wars in the world”, according to a Pakistani official.
“Trump needs success stories to proclaim and Pakistan is happy to give them to him,” said Husain Haqqani, a former Pakistan ambassador to the US now at the Hudson Institute, a think-tank in Washington.
By contrast, Modi has taken a more flinty approach. The day before the lunch with Munir in June, the Indian leader had a testy phone call with the US president about his role in the truce. Modi then publicly contradicted Trump by saying the agreement with Pakistan did not come about because of American intervention, but was at Pakistan’s initiative and took place through existing channels of communication between the two countries’ armed forces.
“Prime Minister Modi firmly stated that India does not and will never accept mediation,” India said in a summary of the call.
Munir’s visit to see the president, which came as the US prepared military strikes on Iran, also helped Pakistan’s military chief tout another facet of their relationship: military and intelligence co-operation.
Munir essentially offered Pakistan as a trusted back channel between the US and its adversaries Iran and China, a strategy that harks back to the Pakistan of the 1970s that facilitated Richard Nixon’s opening of US relations with communist China.
While Pakistan rebuked Washington for the strikes against Iran, the country continued to try to cast itself as a mediator between the US and its foes. In late July, Munir flew to Beijing, where he toured the headquarters of the People’s Liberation Army and promised China’s foreign minister Wang Yi that he would protect Chinese workers in Pakistan from insurgent attacks.
And in between warm encounters with US Centcom commander Kurilla, who received military honours from Pakistan’s government in late July, Munir has also welcomed Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to Islamabad.
Pakistan’s army chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, right meets outgoing US commander General Michael Kurilla during a ceremony in Tampa, on Sunday
Pakistan’s army chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, right, meets outgoing US commander General Michael Kurilla during a ceremony in Tampa, on Sunday © Pakistan Army
“Pakistan is a rare country that is friends with China, Iran, the Gulf states, to a lesser extent Russia, and now, again, the US,” said Marvin Weinbaum, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington. “The US sees Munir as someone who can play a useful strategic role, and the Pakistanis keep their lines open to everyone but know to pull back when one relationship is clashing with another.”
For New Delhi, the burgeoning relationship between Trump and its arch-rival has caused deep irritation, aggravated by its own failure to fend off steep tariffs on its far bigger economy. The US president first levied a 25 per cent tariff on India, then doubled it to 50 per cent because of Russian oil purchases. “It will take some time to get over the lack of trust here,” said one person briefed on the events.
Indian officials are also irked at seeing military-ruled Pakistan rewarded after luring Washington with business deals. “It’s very easy to deal with dysfunctional systems,” the person said — a reference to the ease with which Pakistan turned what looked like a weak position at the start of Trump’s term into a win.
Current and former Pakistani officials and analysts warn Trump could still turn on Islamabad if it fails to deliver. Most of Pakistan’s natural resource riches are either unproven or lie in volatile provinces beset by insurgencies that led to 2,000 deaths last year. Pakistan’s economy relies on a $7bn IMF bailout and debt rollovers from China and Gulf allies.
If Trump decides to patch things up with India again, he may lash out against Pakistan to please Modi, they say. Two diplomats said the US president is hopeful, for instance, that Islamabad will recognise Israel — a tall order for Pakistan given the strength of public opposition to such a move.
Haqqani of the Hudson Institute said: “Trump is playing the Pakistan card to try and gain more advantage with India, annoy the Indians, and see if this will make them talk to him and accept his term. It’s a transactional improvement.”
Hussain Nadim, a former policy adviser in Pakistan who is now a Washington-based critic of Munir’s rule, said: “Unelected leaders and military officials are willing to overpromise to appeal to what they think is Trump’s narcissism. Trump and his advisers may eventually run out of patience when they see that Pakistan is not delivering.”
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, a former prime minister for the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party from 2017 to 2018 who left to start his own party, agreed Pakistan should “be wary of the volatility of the Trump administration”.
“Modi was once the good guy, now he’s being beaten up. Zelenskyy got a public berating,” he said. “Pakistan needs to protect both its interests and its dignity.”
This article has been amended to correct Husain Haqqani’s former role as an ambassador to the US

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Despite its numerous challenges - ranging from corruption and inefficiency to systemic failures - Pakistan, a country one-fourth the size of India, continues to assert itself as a significant regional player. At various points, including the present, it has even held greater geopolitical relevance. Is this a reflection of India's own shortcomings, or is Pakistan's position shaped by luck, fate, or perhaps a higher power?
Maybe all 3?
What oil reserves are they talking about?

Vast oil reserves that a Pakistan itself would not have exploited by now? Or are we suggesting Pakistan have enjoyed their rapid decline in living standards while the gulf states have been having a money filled crude oil party for 50 years? Oil reserves that apparently China would also not have capitalised on by now?

I think we now live in a time where anyone can just say anything and with enough self-tan and exuberance it becomes a fact.
The US-Pak friendship hasn't fared well in the past.
Attack on the US Embassy in 1979 by a Pakistani mob
Ramzi Yousef, a Pakistani terrorist, planted a bomb in the WTC in 1993
Osama Bin Laden was found close to the Pakistani army cantonment, most likely being shielded by the State
Mohamed Atta, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks was wired $100,000 in 2001 by Omar Sheikh, a long-time Pakistani secret agency (ISI) asset. Incidentally, Omar Sheikh is the same person who was accused of the kidnapping and murder of Daniel Pearl, later released by the Pakistani court in 2020.

More details can be found in the Pulitzer prize winning books, Ghost Wars and The Looming Tower.
Osama Bin Laden was originally supported and nurtured by the US to fight against the former Soviet Union in Afghanistan. Hence there is no right or wrong in US foreign policy, it is all about interests. The same applies to its relationship with Pakistan, past and present. As far as the US is concerned, you can be an ally today and then an enemy tomorrow and vice-versa. It all depends on where its interest lies.
(Edited)
This looks like an entirely transactional 'friendship' designed to annoy India. The Indians are duly annoyed - and also quite astounded.

Pakistan played the Americans for 20 years, extracting billions of dollars in aid in Afghanistan while also supporting the Afghan Taliban in their war against NATO troops, resulting in the deaths of over 2000 US soldiers in Afghanistan.

Finally, Pakistan's intelligence agency supported the Afghan Taliban in taking over Kabul - sending US troops fleeing, and the Pakistani intelligence chief then triumphantly arrived in Kabul as the conquering hero.

After all that, the US still thinks nothing of embracing Pakistan because of flattery and dodgy crypto deals? Don't they have any self respect? No anger at the loss of so many of their own troops in Afghanistan? Are they so easily conned? I guess that's what the Indians are puzzled about. They don't know what to make of an America like this.
Before a Senate hearing on Thursday, Admiral Mullen stated definitively that Pakistani intelligence was supporting militant extremists in Afghanistan as they launch attacks on US forces there.

"The Haqqani network, for one, acts as a veritable arm of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Agency," said Adm Mullen.

Rarely if ever have we heard such a senior figure make the accusation so publicly, with such specific information attached to it.

The admiral referred to an attack using a truck bomb, which injured nearly 80 coalition troops south of Kabul earlier this month and the attack on the US embassy and other official buildings in Kabul last week.

"With ISI support, Haqqani operatives planned and conducted that truck bomb attack, as well as the assault on our embassy."

No caveats there: his language suggests that the US has conclusive proof of Pakistani support for those Haqqani operatives, not just intelligence that might suggest involvement.
The above is from 2011. Let’s see how it turns out this time.
Lots of Indians in the US are supporters of Trump. They liked his message of low taxes and since the new crop of Indians are fans of Modi, they liked the huggy-huggy friendship between the two. They appreciated how much the two have in common - the ability to rouse the "silent" base (white people in America, Hindus in India), the instinct to blame it all on the minority, openly talking of securing borders the hard way (fences, deportation, enumeration), and rebuilding a lost greatness.

I am not sure where these lost souls are now. Trump 2.0 is transactional, focused on building his personal wealth and drawing no distinction between the office and the man (something Modi does too - the streets of Bangalore were lined with party flags where he "gifted" a metro line to the people of Bangalore forgetting that it has been built with taxpayer money).

I am sure to get trolled for saying all this by my fellow countrymen. I would only ask them to spare a thought for the gem and jewellery workers in Surat and the textile and garment export workers in Tirupur - all of whom are likely to face years of hardship.

By the time the fascination with Munir wears off and Trump (hopefully) retires to Florida, the damage would have been semi-permanently done.

(Edited)
It was an astonishing reception for a man who, despite wielding the country’s most powerful office, is not a head of government — and even more so for an official representing Pakistan.

It's beyond sad to see such a statement in these pages. Either the writers are completely clueless about the political landscape in Pakistan or deliberately omitted to mention Army's role in ousting Imran Khan's government through a no-confidence vote in 2022, then rigging the 2024 elections to deny Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek Insasf (PTI) party a clear majority in the legislation, and now practically disqualifying all PTI's parliamentarians over the last two weeks on trumped up terrorism charges.

General Asim Muneer is simply following in the footsteps of other Pakistani dictators (Field Marshal Ayub during the 60's, General Zia during the 80's and General Musharraf in the 00's), who rely on foreign powers to get global credibility. It certainly looks like that General Asim has gained the trust of this paper.
Eh? Is that not what the article is saying - he is not a head of government?

based on what you have exactly outlined you cannot particularly deny that he does wield the most powerful office in Pakistan considering how easily the army ousts elected officials.

I agree with you, Munir is following the military dictator's playbook - are you really blaming the FT for his increasing credibility or perhaps should the US president talk to the elected head of state of Pakistan?
A bribe by any other name…? And India?
Trump's new found love for Pakistan's de facto ruler has the life expectancy of a mayfly
The Pak-US relationship spans over seven-decades. Republican presidents especially have tended to have a closer relationship with Pakistan starting from the USSR’s invasion of Afghanistan and Reagan’s military support of the Mujahideen via Pakistan, and more recently of course, the US’s own invasion of Afghanistan after 911. Even before these lengthy wars, Pak-US partnered together in sensitive projects such as space exploration in the 1960s. Strategic linkages between the two militaries are especially strong and the Pakistan military was equipped and trained by the American for decades. Those finding Asim Munir feeling at ease in Washington withTrump shouldn’t really be that much surprised. Recent events have merely brought the old relationships to the surface again and the US military establishment is all for it too.
If India and Pakistan could get along, the SAARC nations could be the most powerful economic bloc.
One factor is also Operation Sindhoor. Pakistan got a major boost through a very decisive counter attack and the world has acknowledged that.
(Edited)
I am having great fun reading these comments. Indians do come across a very touchy, thin-skinned and low in self-confidence.

Having said that, I continue to be very impressed by the Indian cricket team.
(Edited)
Many comments from Pakistanis i've come across go like this: "we are a peaceful country but..." goes on to obsess about destroying India, using obscene language around religion, women, and with historical *enocidial intent

it's sad.. with a proper civilian government in place in time we could have gone on to settle all our issues
OK Imran Khan
This is what I meant.
You made a generalization, and got one in return. Point being, whatever you accuse Indians of being, your countrymen are as well, cause people in subcontinent are v similar. You watch cricket, you must know.,
That is a very fair point.
(Edited)
Let me end on a somewhat positive note.. man Saeed Anwar was a great batsman.. never wanted him to come to bat 😂
Lol! But nothing beats Sehwag, Dravid and then Dhoni. The Indian batting line-up in the early 2000s was divine. I think it is difficult to argue against a claim that the 2001 test series between India and Australia was the finest batting performance so far of the 21st century.
* Pakistan has NO oil. US will find it out within few months.

*India refused to accept lie that Trump stopped the confrontation between India & Pakistan. Actually, India deserves praise for its stand.

*Pakistan is on 24th IMF bailout. Repayments and interest on loans come to about
50 % of revenue receipts.

*According to the World Bank, the poverty rate in Pakistan is 44.7%. Rich, powerful, well-connected people & Establishment & Civil Leaders virtually do NOT pay Direct Income tax. Increasing Poverty could lead to Law & Order problems.

*Proposed Mining Projects are NOT easy to deliver due to indigenous Baluchistan's
people's serious armed resistance. They do NOT want its resources to be exploited by Pakistan and Foreigners.

etc.
What, you mean fawning, genuflection, and flattery actually works with a narcissist ruler? Like, every single time? This could have been a much shorter article, lol.
Fact stranger than fiction.
America and India have right wing Govts, yet at loggerheads.
And India becoming chummy with Brazil’s left wing Lula
As usual, America will learn the hard way about how Pakistan will use it and give back nothing in return.

Some countries never learn the lesson and get suckered back.
Let's not forget where a certain somebody had been hiding for years before he got taken out. Let's also not forget which country had been shielding him for years. Let's not forget which government had funded, and still does, a certain group belonging to said individual.
Ghost of bin-Laden is alive and well; perhaps it is on holidays for the time being.
Has pakistan not sold these mineral resources to China already? How did Trump manage to become the president and that too twice! Historians will be lost on this one.
China will NOT allow Pakistan to give minerals to USA.
Shakeel Afridi, is the Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA run a fake hepatitis vaccine program to locate Osama Bin Laden. He's currently serving 23 years in a Pakistani prison.
The Pakistan Army is in it up to its neck in sponsoring terrorism.
Yes, treachery leads to that kind of result.


‘The newfound US admiration for Pakistan is partly the fruit of a charm offensive concocted by Pakistan’s senior generals, leveraging counterterrorism co-operation, outreach to business people close to Trump and deals covering energy, critical minerals and cryptocurrencies — all accompanied by a cascade of flattery for the White House.’

Not that India didn’t want to or try.
T’s win was hailed,celebrated.
Kamala H’s winning was considered v negative for India.
Something went spectacularly wrong despite India’s fav becoming POTUS.
Asim Munir made these comments on US soil yesterday:


“We are a nuclear nation. If we think we are going down, we’ll take half the world down with us,” media reports quoted Munir as saying.

He also threatened action against any Indian dam built on the Indus River referring to New Delhi’s decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty in the wake of Pahalgam terror attack.

“We will wait for India to build a dam, and when it does so, 10 missiles se faarigh kar denge (we will destroy it with 10 missiles),” Munir was quoted as saying.

“The Indus River is not the Indians’ family property. Humein missilon ki kami nahi hai, al-Hamdulillah (we don’t have a missile shortage, Praise be to God),” he added.
And ? I’m sure they have a right to water as does every country . It’s not up to India. Are you Israel or something ?
Ask your army chief. He has been sharing his great wisdom:
Old War playbook (regime-change in India/covert pressure).
The U.S. sometimes backed or tried to catalyze changes in governments it opposed, most famously in Iran, 1953 (declassified CIA history acknowledges planning and support for the coup) and Chile, 1970–73. Next regime change in India ..
Before that happens, I think Trump will go. He just announced federal control over Washington...lol. US is becoming a country that needs a regime change. US is isolating itself from allies like EU and India, and cosying up with dictatorships and terrorist countries like Pakistan
Asim Munir (Trump’s lunch guest) made a speech on 16 April:

Watch from 2 minutes onwards.

Reported here too:
"You have to tell Pakistan's story to your children so that they don’t forget that our forefathers thought we were different from Hindus in every possible aspect of life," he said, evoking the two-nation theory propagated by Pakistan's founder MA Jinnah.

"Our religions are different, our customs are different, our traditions are different, our thoughts are different, our ambitions are different. That was the foundation of the two-nation theory that was laid there. We are two nations, we are not one nation,"
Independent international research has established that abut 85 % Muslims have the same genes/DNA as Hindus. They or their ancestors were converted in to Islam.
Pakistan can have fast developing economy like India, as the Genes are the same by and large, but they have to work hard for years to do it.
Maybe sort out your dire lack of toilets, so millions of Indians are not defecating out in the open and turning India into a giant toilet first, before claiming a fast growing economy.
Well with a per capita lower than that of India, if you think Pakistan does not have it worse, well you are in for a rude awakening
Loving the outraged Modi bumboys in the comments.
(Edited)
Loving your cheap thrills.
Probably you were disnayed when Osama was apprehended in Pak.
Grow up
Did I hear correctly on YouTube that the General has promised to nuke India. Great. What more does the world need in 2025. A doolally POTUS and a psychotic general. Christmas come early?
India is capable of defending itself by retaliating.

*Why India’s new hypersonic missile may outrun Israel's Iron Dome and Russia's S-500 and shift the balance in Asia.

India has tested its most advanced nuclear capable missile yet, the ET-LDHCM, which can fly at Mach 8 and hit targets 1,500 km away. Developed under DRDO’s secretive Project, it uses a scramjet engine, carries nuclear or conventional warheads, and can be launched from land, sea or air. With regional tensions high, India joins an elite club of nations ( USA, Russia, China & India ) with indigenous hypersonic capability. It is better than Russia's and preliminary technical assessment shows that US, Chinese and Indian Versions have edge over each other in some respects.

This is more powerful than jets. India's defense systems neutralized Pakistani Drones and can jets as well, if they come in to Indian airspace.
Pakistan doesn’t have much choice when it is right next to India and the two countries have been at war four or five times since 1947. Hence all Pakistan can do is to cozy up to bigger powers like China and the US. Pakistan will just need to be subservient to both.
That's completely false. An independent civilian government in Pakistan will with negotiate with India, leading to peace in south asia, probably the
Neo imperialists dont want that
Another biased article from FT. Pakistan wooed Trump and Pakistan's Army Chief felt encouraged to actually publicly give a nuclear threat not just to India but to half the world - Asim Munir is said to have told attendees of a black-tie dinner in Florida on Saturday: 'We are a nuclear nation. If we think we are going down, we'll take half the world down with us'. This is what Pakistan is doing on US ground and the Trump administration is encouraging this. So much for Trump's Nobel prize ambitions. Why has FT not reported on such threats made by Pakistan on US soil? FT is a very biased publication.
Yawn…the big problem is that for such a vast and great country you have an uneducated leader - who just can’t play in the big leagues…
Big league, You mean play in the Trump circus
So Ray99 you are publicly on this platform supporting what Asim Munir said on US soil? Because that is what your comment implies.
No, I’m saying your leader is incompetent…India has so many educated business leaders - but the country is run by an ex-thug with no education…that’s what I’m saying. Please connect the dots
And in the meantime Trump takes federal control of Washington while people like Ray99 are defending him. All the best.
So by your logic, singing praises of a self-obsessed narcissist is the same as playing in the big leagues. Not-at-all-terrible reasoning..
Maybe they (US) want Modi to move on? Which is probably a good thing.
Currently Pakistan and USA are in a love fest. As they say in Urdu - Buddhi Ghodhi laal lagaam (old mare red bridle).
Some observations:
  • Geologically Pakistan does not have any oil and only limited quantity of gas. This is after discussions with senior officials who have worked in Pakistan for Pakistan Petroleum Limited, China Petroleum, OMV, and BP. However, Pakistan's political establishment keeps selling snake oil to all and sundry. This time they have sold it to Trump & Co.
  • Another check: Google Iran's oil fields. All of them are in the Persian gulf in Western Iran and none near the Pakistan border. Geologically Pakistan does not have oil.
  • Pakistan has no oil. Similarly, Crypto currencies have no future irrespective of some Bollywood heroes advertising for Crypto investment. No need to be excited about crypto.
  • People are taking Trump up the garden path and he proves himself to be a clueless. Trump stated in presence of Tim Cook and many other that new $17 trillion of investment coming to USA will generate 20,000 jobs. That would mean for each new job companies will invest $850 million. US productivity is either very poor or people are just quoting meaningless numbers to Trump akin to monopoly game with fake money. No doubt Bob is Trump's uncle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbEsY-YpF1E&t=111s at minute 1:17
  • India had hoped that relationship matters and thought personal chemistry matters. Trump doesn't value relationship. Either India should bring something or keep distance from Trump. Example, give 24 carat base holder gift like the one given by Apple's chief Tim Cook. Many nations have taken the approach of keeping distance - France, Italy, Canada, Australia etc. They are just keeping safe distance from the monkey with a itch.
  • Pakistan and Trump love fest is unnatural and Indian folk lore has many tales of still born from such unnatural acts - enjoy those folk lore or alternatively take the chill pill to relax.
Suit them well. Both will try to be clever and it will not end well.
(Edited)
Since when is Pakistan India’s arch rival? Is Mexico is an arch rival of the US? Using such tiresome unsubstantiated terms Indians. Don’t.
Since you attacked them and then they put a reality check on your superpower status ? Just saying….
Let come to face of it. India want to be seen and be great power who can make their own foreign policy decisions. Pakistan can speak Trump’s language of corruption and know they’re a client state like 70s and 80s.
India is a great country but , whilst being now the most populous nation on earth , isn’t really a great power defined as one that can project power outside of its territory , and won’t become one for a long time if at all. Having nuclear weapons means nothing if the only people you can use them against is Pakistan in an act of mutual mass destruction.

India is a large regional power in cold conflict with China , which probably is a great power and has designs on Indian territory in Arunachal Pradesh but I doubt will annex Tawang as it isn’t worth it . It is I suppose debatable However I agree with those who think former “ North Manchuria “ ie eastern Siberia might well be interesting to the Chinese for mineral wealth ; the Chinese largely controlled it until the Qing dynasty and the Tsars pushed east. The US isn’t interested in Indian peripheral states it is interested in keeping China tied down , Pakistan is at least as important as India doing this. This is all this nonsense is about and the US doesn’t really care about Modi’s Hindu nationalist amour propre , he likes his trade surplus and will have to lump it.
USA is indeed scared of India's growth rate. Sour grapes for you.
USA is scared of India? Seriously?
Otherwise why is Trump giving us SOOOOOOOO much attention? Why is US trying hard for a regime change in India if it were not scared? So yes, seriously.
The US just wants India to buy its energy commodities and products instead of Russia's. That's about it. There are no morals or any grand strategy here..
Ahahaha.. delusional comment.
(Edited)
Pakistan is subservient to China, it is ridiculous to think it can tie down china, infact Pakistan has bled US in Afghanistan, they say it openly
Nothing to do with India - all to do with Pakistan's relationship with China.

Another example of America cosying up to all the wrong people.
This comments sections is as crowded with Indians as the ‘legal’ H1B! Visa immigrants in New York.
What's the title? Not the sharpest tool in the shed are you?
And like right wing Americans commenting on cheap labour from abroad rather than uncompetitive local labour
BTW trump has now taken federal control of Washington. Go save your country otherwise your country will become like Pakistan.
How about fixing your own country first before sending waves after waves of immigrants to all over the world.
Name one country that is happy and welcoming Indian immigrants, skilled or unskilled ones, just name one country. If India was so great Indians wouldn’t be leaving it in droves to get to our Great Nation which you so despise.
If India wasnt great, we would not have had so many people coming to India over many centuries to loot us. India did not invite foreigners, they invited themselves. Now India is returning the favour because these rich countries have no brain power. Indians are free to go anywhere they want and there is precious luttle you can do to stop them.
We sent back one plane load in handcuffs… we can stop it now thanks to my President.
Excellent writing Humza and team.
(Edited)
West should acknowledge Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Role in Ending the communism and Cold War while India was a Russian ally.
Cementing U.S. Global Leadership. During the 1980s, Pakistan and Afghanistan played pivotal roles in the U.S.-led effort to counter Soviet expansion, a campaign that contributed directly to the eventual collapse of the USSR in 1991 and the emergence of the United States as the world’s sole superpower.

Following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, Pakistan became the primary staging ground for the Afghan resistance, known as the Mujahideen. Through a close partnership between Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) under Operation Cyclone. Pakistan also sheltered more than three million Afghan refugees, making it the largest host of displaced Afghans during the conflict.

Afghanistan bore the direct burden of the war. Mujahideen fighters waged a decade-long guerrilla campaign against Soviet forces, leading to heavy losses on both sides. The war resulted in an estimated 1–2 million Afghan deaths, over 1.5 million wounded, and more than five million displaced. Soviet military casualties were around 15,000.

The conflict drained the USSR’s economy, cost it global prestige, and eroded military morale, marking it as the Soviet equivalent of the U.S.’s Vietnam War. The eventual Soviet withdrawal in 1989 was a strategic victory for the United States and its allies, accelerating the Soviet Union’s disintegration.

With the USSR gone, the U.S. emerged as the undisputed global superpower, shaping a unipolar world order that dominated the geopolitical landscape of the 1990s and early 2000s.
and on 9/11 they US much cherished allies said "thank you"
hahahaha well said.
Without U.S., Pakistani, and Afghan resistance, the Soviet Union would have had a strategically vital and ideologically aligned state on NATO’s southern doorstep, possibly prolonging the Cold War, reshaping Middle East politics, and delaying the wave of democratization in the 1990s. The U.S. containment strategy in Asia would have been compromised, and NATO’s southern flank weakened.
Soviet influence might have expanded into Iran—especially after the 1979 revolution created a fragile political environment—potentially shifting Iran into Moscow’s camp. This could have given the USSR more leverage over global oil routes and energy markets.
And then Osama turned up in Pak near Rawalipindi military HQ
what was the point of all this drivel?
Modi's BJP/RSS is harmful to democratic norms . US should apply the same policy against right wing govt in India whether during the Cold War against communism, or in other contexts.
Look at how US ended up destroying a beautiful country like Afghanistan. US is just a huge terrorist country. You think US is a democratic country - your president has just taken control of Washington. Go save your country before calling India undemocratic.
Also I would like you to give me one solid example of what undemocratic stuff that BJP has done in the last 11 years. Give me clear example rather than fluff.
Babri Masjid...
and don't give us the whole rubbish about the supreme court decision upholding the heinous crime.
You still here. despite your free 3m trial subscription to the FT expiring already?
(Edited)
What a bunch of mindless mumbling. Pakistan was the birthplace of jihad on industrial scale. ISI took US funds with one hand, diverted part of it in radicalizing millions of youth in Afghanistan, its country, as wel as diverting funds towards raising insurgency in Kashmir. You're text characterizes Afghanistan as a willing ally to US, whereas in reality it was the most unfortunate playground for great power contest. As for Pakistan, the jihad they industrialized in its backyard turned its eyes on the west and had morphed into countless other insurgencies across middle east and africa. Hilary Clinton's snake in the backyard metaphor comes to mind.
(Edited)
Israel has become an unbearable burden for Washington..As the sun rises over Australia, protests against Israel begin. And by the time it sets over Hawaii, demonstrations against Netanyahu continue across the globe, east to west, round the clock. Israel and Netanyahu appear utterly unmoved by Western opinion, values, or even the moral compass of their closest allies. Like Adolf Hitler, Netanyahu continues down a genocidal path
You sound like a bumbling bot 😅 nothing related to what i wrote
I see you’re concerned about this. Can we explore the data together.
U.S. policy during and after the first Afghan war against the Soviet Union (1979–1989) is often seen as having “won the war but lost the peace. U.S. Objective Was Narrow and Short-Term .The primary U.S. goal was to expel Soviet forces and weaken the USSR during the Cold War, not to rebuild Afghanistan afterward. Once the Soviets withdrew in 1989, U.S. engagement dropped sharply, because Washington saw its strategic mission as complete.

Abrupt Disengagement After Soviet Withdrawal. No sustained political or economic reconstruction plan was implemented. Afghanistan was left in a power vacuum, with no central authority strong enough to hold the country together.

The vacuum was quickly filled by armed mujahideen factions and regional warlords. Empowerment of Fragmented Militias . During the war, the CIA (mainly via Pakistan’s ISI) funneled arms and money to various mujahideen groups without centralizing command. This armed a patchwork of rival factions with no shared vision for governance.

After the war, these groups fought each other in a brutal civil war (1992–1996).
deepened divisions among Afghan fighters and contributed to instability.

The Bonn-like political settlement that the U.S. helped facilitate in 2001 never happened in 1989. There was no roadmap for democratic institutions, economic recovery, or national reconciliation.
The U.S. “won” militarily by helping drive out the Soviets but failed strategically because: It left too early. It didn’t invest in political stability or reconstruction.
It ignored Afghanistan’s internal power dynamics once the Cold War goal was achieved.
My thought: The Trump people have no interest in Pakistan. They are only pretending in order to put max. pressure on India and have Modi bend his knee. You find the same perverse narcissistic playbook elsewhere, see how they play UK vs. EU. Side benefit: the Trump clan does not mind taking some bribes along the way.
Corrupt Army and Trump will be best of buddies in the coming years to enrich themselves. While the honest leaders from Pakistan will remain imprisoned
Amen. If Civilian leadership in Pakistan is allowed to gain its rightful autonomy, then god knows if it settles peacefully with its neighbors and has a chance to prosper! Who wants such a disastrous outcome! (Irony)
Instead of supporting India, the largest function democracy anywhere east of Suez canal - a future market for growth, and prepare against imminent threat of Russia and China, this clown drumpf is in bed with outright dictatorships.
Mike Judge was right about Idiocracy !
Minor correction: India is the largest functioning democracy to the west of the Suez as well.
India is a Hinducracy, not a democracy at all!
(Edited)
So a country with an extensive track record of corruption suddenly gets favourable treatment from a President who is so clearly open to corruption. What could be wrong with that?

Trump is using his office to line his pockets via crypto and other methods, and basing US foreign policy on what gives him the best personal advantage.
America has a habit of playing one side off against the other . They did same when Turks refused to allow US troops to attack Iraq from Turkiye same when Turks bought S400 from Russia when Americans refused to sell Patriots.
I recall American senate welcoming Greek PM giving him 10 standing ovations . Greek PM said he doesn’t get this type of welcome in his own country.

India should ignore Trump for the next four years as other nations will do . India is strong enough to stand up to America.
(Edited)
India is playing both sides as well (albeit more detrimentally), in all ways seeking favour from the West all the while stoking Putin’s war machine by purchasing Russian oil on the sly.
(Edited)
Russian oil is being bought under an EU/G7 price cap system, to help keep oil prices low for western consumers. There are no buyers for western hypocrisy on this topic. EU consumes Russian pipeline gas and LNG to this day, 3.5 years after the war started. EU also willingly buys refined products from countries that refine Russian oil. The only sly aspect of this is trying to blame India for the EU’s failings. EU population and GDP are multiples of that of Russia. If you cannot defend Ukraine adequately, it’s because of a political failure in Europe.
No one in India is rattled. This is clearly a pro-Pak and pro-US article. I have been saying for a while like a lot of western media, FT is biased against India. And we know why - no western country wants to see India rise. I stopped subscribing to FT this month, and will not be going back to this sh@t.
You stopping the FT subscription makes no change to anything whatsoever. What you can do is to get Indian engineers to produce goods (instead of relying on IT forever) and you will see things will radically change in 10 years.
And what makes you think that is not already happening? Me stopping FT subscription also makes a difference - at least I stop buying into the western media bias and my money does not fund this nonsense anymore. Change begins with each person and I am starting with me. On the other hand, you are just a bunch of words with zero action!
Until India -Pakistan , Greece-Turkiye , north- south Cyprus realise they are been played by West we will continue fighting loosing lives and living in fear of each other.
Who left us in this nasty situation ? . British Empire.

It’s up to us to break the cycle of hatred
Turkiye... sigh
Gulf of America...
What about this makes it a hit piece? It summarizes the situation quite well.
No it does not. Who exactly in India is rattled care to explain? There has been near unanimous political consensus on not bending to America's bullying, the stock market has not moved, business heads are backing the Government. Who is rattled?Every one has given exactly 0 F's about what the US Madman is saying, and is waiting for this relationship to burst- just like Mr Madman and Mr Musk's breakup.
Exactly. Thank you! You responded better than me!
(Edited)
As an Indian myself, I dont see where the FT went wrong. Everything reported here was factual. The author and article did not side with any party. What are you on about? You'd have to be thick in the head to not think that 50% tariffs levied by your largest trade partner wouldnt rattle any objective policy maker or economist. Get the propaganda speaker out of year and back to reality.
Henry Kissinger — 'It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal.'
That’s taken out of context and inverts Kissinger’s original meaning, which posed it as a counterfactual - the perception if the US failed to defend Nguyen van Thieu. Having said that, I think the late, great, and completely amoral Kissinger would agree that it is no longer a counterfactual.
Right out of the playbook; round up a terrorist; overpromise and then flattery. Then overpromise an externalised security led solution. But these cards have a dramatic declining utility; the war on terror is over. No trillions pouring into Afghanistan. And worse, most terrorism in the region is directed at the Pakistani (Punjabi) state, not the West. Next, Pakistan will try and leverage its connection with China (look we had no choice etc but if you invest in Pakistan …) Except Pakistan’s business environment is so bad the Chinese are trying (and failing) to extradite themselves. Pakistan could be the richest per capita in SE Asia. It has a bounty of minerals and opportunity but the Generals continue to meddle and pry and F it up since the 50s.
I hope all those Indian Americans who voted for Trump so enthusiastically are reading this article

They should make for this mistake by writing to the Republican Party members and advising them that they can no longer rely on their support and votes.
The majority of Indian Americans vote democrat. Young male indians voted trump but otherwise no other block did. the young male is easily explained by national trends. Indians go tend more to the right than other immigrant groups, especially since they are situated in urban environments usually, but it’s more to due with social values, india is a culturally conservative country, and pretty meritocratic.
No! majority of Indians in USA voted for Trump
objectively not true. can't believe FT readers actively lie in comment sections. theres a massive paywall!
Indian Americans vote on domestic issues primarily. And they are all over the spectrum as can be seen by the political leaders from this community: from pramila jayapal to ramaswamy who are on nearly opposite ends.
India won’t be rattled. The US has a history of harbouring snakes in their backyard. Pakistan is responsible for killing Americans and yet, the US is always eager to get in bed them. Good luck to them.

India will continue to march ahead. But Indians won’t forget this, like they haven’t forgotten how Nixon treated us.
Deceipt has been the DNA of Pakistani governments since Zia Al Haq. After all these years, only the most gullible like Trump, will fall for it again.

Even Putin has been playing Trump for six months. Why will all those around him not stop this nonsense. It is not Trump that is the laughing stock, the USA is now.
I note that any comment referencing Kirana Hills is getting deleted.
So much for presenting an informed article.
Both India and Pakistan are doing what is in their own interests. India is playing the long game as it can being an emerging global power, whereas Pakistan has to think short term tactically and not piss off Trump.
They can't piss Trump off anyway but in order to survive from day 1 to day 3 they need money and a belief by the US that they can deliver the dirty for Trump. Thirty years of history of the US relying on Pakistan was not enough. Now it is round 2.
Pakistan is silly if it thinks it can trust the US. How many times does it need to be bitten ?
Its the other way
Pakistan has been able to woo the US all the way back when Nixon was the president. The US declassified documents dating back to that period and there’s a heated exchange between Nixon and Kissinger about Indira Gandhi, in which he calls her a
'b**ch and goes on to say “Indians are b***ards anyway”. Nixon’s dislike of Indira was partly also because he couldn’t stand a woman leading a nation.

This was when India-Pakistan war happened in 1971, wherein the US supported Pakistan despite its human rights abuses in East Pakistan, the event that led to the creation of Bangladesh. This was also the time when Russia stepped up and showed its support and led to India’s closer diplomatic relations with it.

This only became worse when India decided to develop its nuclear capability in the 80s, and the US tried blocking it in every way possible.

Ever since, India has never trusted the US completely, it knows that being a US friend means considerable political and economic interference. Additionally, US has been funding of Pakistan’s military (whether it was the democrats or the republicans), irrespective of the fact that it’s consistently funded terrorist activities in India, sabotaged US’s own efforts in Afghanistan and undermines its own elected government has shown its lack of interest in creating a stable region as long as it was benefiting from it.

In the recent past, the only reason the US began developing a closer relationship with India is to develop a counter weight to China, again, because it serves their interest.

While it’s a temporary blow, India, and Modi, knows that Trump is no one’s friend, and is also so unpredictable that he can turn around tomorrow. It’s also sticking with its long-term policy of not letting the US interfere in its internal matters and is playing a long game.
‘In the recent past, the only reason the US began developing a closer relationship with India is to develop a counter weight to China, again, because it serves their interest.’
That was Biden’s time.
Despite all the rhetoric, current Admn wants to be friendly with China.
Actions post election spell louder tha preelection words.
An "improbable rise" is bound to be followed by a probable fall sooner or later.
Two of the most corrupt people and governments find common ground. Sycophancy at its absolute best tailored to draw in an insecure corrupt President.
Pakistan would get the money it needs but it would lose Baluchistan . India would recognise afghan govt . Trump too would make a lot of money. Imran khan would be deported to usa. 👌
India is today friends with the Taliban.
Truly bizarre.
Modi must be fuming. He's created his whole political persona on being a pound shop Trump only to suffer these indignities
?
(Edited)
FT: “Pakistan is a rare country that is friends with China, Iran, the Gulf states, to a lesser extent Russia, and now, again, the US,” said Marvin Weinbaum, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington.


An excellent observation and a well-deserved tribute to the supreme "transactional" skills of the 0.1% from the Pakistan Feudal establishment, that have enabled them to grow and prosper and get fabulously wealthy across generations, while the rest of the country of 240 mn steadily sinks into a morass of poverty and desperation and hopelessness, bound together by the steady infusion of extremist religious interpretations, that are displacing and replacing the tolerant Sufi traditions and teachings that were once the core of the country's religious beliefs system.

A key part of this "Transactional" dominance is to carefully study and analyse the deepest needs as well as weaknesses of the "Target" and then pander to those needs, which includes the selective offerings of "expendable assets", both human as well as material, that induces an outpouring of gratitude and adulation from the "Target", which can then be channelized towards personal profit and enrichment.

But it is a closed and jealously guarded circle that plays this game and that reaps its bounty - the "elite" comprising the generals and the feudal landowners and some politicians as well as industrialists - although that last category is quite small in number. And certain intelligence agencies in the west are also a key facilitator of this self-propagating system.

The photo in the middle of the FT report sums it all - the Military Strongman in the centre, and the hapless PM in a corner. And from the number of shiny medals proudly pinned to the coats of all the military men, it would appear that Pakistan is the world's foremost military power that has fought and won great battles and wars across the world.


“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

- Lord Acton
“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Correct. Modi and Adani..
Correction: Haqqani was Pakistan ambassador to the US, not US ambassador to Pakistan as stated in the article.
FT
Thanks for noticing that was the wrong way around - we've amended it now
Not terribly surprised beyond how much the Whitkof crypto pitch sounded as clueless as dot com era 'accelerator' funds that indicated peak exuberance in 1999 / 2000. It makes me think that the best way to stablise crypto-economy values would be to have people like that say nothing.

This is definitely not sleepy Joe's administration - what ever you might have thought of them when they were in power - pay-for-play and egotism were not the order of the day.
Let Modi try yoga diplomacy on T.
Trump- Putin is easy to figure out.
But there is a non cosy 3 some here with China originally in the bed.
It is a tangled web we weave when we first begin to deceive.
Yes surely Pakistan has played it well to survive Trump but the saddest part of being the mistress is that she never gets the seat at the dinner table with other guests
Who's the wife here, in your view...
This is an odd article. In one breath it points out that Trump was displeased by India’s purchase of Russian oil (which it has been doing for 3 years without trouble), and in another, with no hint of irony, it describes relations with Pakistan, China’s “all-weather friend” as warm. The chickens will come to roost when Trump turns his attention to China.
He already turned his attention to China and chickened out. He’s only capable of being tough on the weak and disorganised.
This won’t impact Modi at all! What is telling is that the beacon of democracy is rolling out the red carpet to a military general when the country supposedly has an elected leader
India is not rolling out a red carpet to the General???
(Edited)
Helpful article on a relationship most media ignore. Unfortunately, the author says Pakistan is “military ruled” which is not correct. Pakistan has a civilian Prime Minister - Shebaz Sharif, and president- Asif Ali Zardari. Yes the military has power behind the scenes but that is different from being a military dictatorship, and Field Marshal Munir has no political role or power.
Shehbaz Sharif is a puppet prime minister installed upon arrest and jailing of Imran Khan, the most popular leader, who stood up to the military, in a coup arranged and supported by the US. The most popular party PTI was not even allowed to contest elections. Now Munir meets heads of state instead of the PM. for everyone who has common sense and can think for themselves, Pakistan is a dictatorship in all but name.
@FT (John Reed & Politi) : what is the truth as you know it ? How many aircraft’s did India lose ? What exactly happened with the Pakistani air defenses? Were they really destroyed ?
India and Pakistan both lost multiple jets, including F16s for the latter donated by US for "counter terrorism" 🙄
One is a banana republic and the other incarcerated its former prime minister and their most popular politician. Go figure.
People keep throwing out banana republic. Unless the definition has changed substantially, the usa is among the most diversified economies of any country. It doesn’t rely on any one export
My apologies - you are correct. A POTUS intent on turning a mature democracy to a banana republic is learning lessons from the master, on how to go about it.
even then i dont think banana republic fits. trump may be trying to turn the country into an autocracy, america is too well designed for that to actually happen luckily
Few more Trump towers in India and may be wind will flow in other direction. Pure Transactional. Another 3.5 years and it will be reset again. 3.5 years is nothing when nations and civilisations have existed and survived for few thousand years.
Army chiefs of civilized countries don’t go around kissing up to other heads of state. So this all makes sense. He is a pawn being used for a specific purpose by Trump but is too dense to realize it.
I know I shouldn’t have said it, but I feel India stopped being humble too soon in their quite straightforward path to become the world’s superpower and star among other countries.

A way too soon. Let’s wait and see how this will change its future
Your comment can be humble on when India should be humble.

India has been humble for last 300 years of colonialism.
That’s fine, I am just sharing what I feel
I agree, EAM Jaishankar's boastful comments are a bit premature. India lacks leverage in strategic industries
Trump's real-estate background explains his transactional approach to everything. He likes fixers who can fix "deals" and fully expects that he will have to shake hands with people whose hands are dirty. Sometimes this approach can work - the recent Armenia Azerbaijan agreement. With Pakistan one is not sure. India has no choice but to repair its relations with China and Bangladesh, and wait this one out. And reform its economy by lowering tariffs and making the country easier to do business in and to live in. Stop the majoritarian nonsense. Not sure if anyone in the capital will listen, though.
(Edited)
Munir essentially offered Pakistan as a trusted back channel between the US and its adversaries Iran and China
US will surely get it in the back in time...Trump's legacy of letting in this Chinese PLA Trojan horse is likely going to be a combined Pearl Harbour and 9/11 for the US.

US will wake up too late once it has had a real bloody nose from the PLA in the inevitable hot conflict with China within a decade.

Trump's delusional 'ace deal making ' is no match for the Islamist dictator generals cunning tactics and the CCP-PLA multi decade strategy.
(Edited)
Pakistan has 1/6 the population of India and 1/9 the GDP. The US under Trump is making a senseless gamble by cozying up to Pakistan while needlessly alienating India.

Going further, much of Pakistan’s mineral wealth lies in its restive province of Balochistan, which has witnessed 6 major rebellions since 1947 against the Pakistani state. Large swathes of the province are not under the effective control of the Pakistan Army. And Chinese engineers working on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor have been extensively targeted by the Baloch insurgents, disrupting progress.

Recently, a water dispute has also bitterly divided Pakistan’s two most economically important - and populous - provinces Sindh and Punjab. Sindhis allege the Punjabi elite (who dominate Pakistan’s government and military) are diverting Indus River waters from Sindh towards their native Punjab. This has led to an intensification of the “Sindhudesh” movement for greater autonomy.

How exactly does Trump intend to tap the mineral wealth of a country so restive and volatile? And what is the net benefit of alienating the world’s largest democracy and soon-to-be 3rd largest economy?
I think it’s quite transactional with the current administration. Pakistan gave Trump a better deal on something, while modi hasn’t delivered? Maybe trump’s latest outbursts on India / Russia are in fact long held US policy but only publicised now?
Needlessly presumes trump has made the connection in the same light as India. Nobody except India thinks relations with Pakistan are a zero sum game.
Hey, go ahead forming relations with a country who's politicians are on record mocking how they have taken US money to defeat US in Afghanistan. As long as Pakistan thinks of its relation to India as a zero sum India has no other option. IR is a two way street and unfortunately you cannot exchange neighbors. The least US could do is not provide defense equipment to both sides, else it appears dishonest
That wasn’t a politician but the former chief of the Pakistani Intelligence services. Pakistan accepts it is not a zero sum game; it’s argument is that (a) it wishes for parity with India and (b) India cannot hold hegemony in South Asia.
I feel Pakistan is being used as a pawn to negotiate tariffs with India.
(Edited)
That may be what Trump thinks he is doing. In reality, he is being played by Pakistan and he does not understand that Indian culture does not readily forget being humiliated, let alone the absolute enmity towards Pakistan
A country with a long history of corruption understands the new world order better than most
With a couple of billion meme coin donation, anyone can purchase the Don man.
Oh, the promise of crypto and mineral riches for DT and his cronies is absolutely a fundamental reason for the sudden turn toward warm friendship.
(Edited)
Indians also are in the same league when it comes to corruption but are too arrogant to accept "new world order".
Given that the "New World Order" = kiss a**, flatter and bribe, it makes sense why India (or most other countries with any self respect and national pride) will not comply with that order.
"World Liberty Financial, a Trump-backed cryptocurrency venture, signed a letter of intent with Pakistan’s crypto council in April, when its co-founders visited Pakistan. Zach Witkoff, the son of US special envoy Steve Witkoff, said during the trip that Pakistan had “trillions of dollars” of mineral wealth ripe for tokenisation."

The corruption in plain sight is sickening.
Is this keeping your friends close and keeping your enemies closer?

I'm not sure McDonald's gets this stuff....
India's buying of Russian oil funds Putin's war on Ukraine. Trump is obsessed with the Nobel Peace Prize, because Obama got one. Therefore India stands between Trump and a status symbol he covets.
Yes, Trump should get a Nobel. If Obama got one with the grocery delivery why shouldn't Trump?
To be clear neither of them should/should have got one
(Edited)
Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. This applies both ways around by the way.
The courtship once uniting the world’s two largest democracies has given way to a tawdry fling between two of the planet’s most accomplished kleptocracies.
India is a democracy? Where minorities are massacred?
(Edited)
Massacred? When? Tone down the hyperbole.
No one who “deals” with Trump can maintain any sort of dignity.
Weapons.
Washington Post has estimated that around 1000-1500 US Soldiers killed on Afghanistan could be indirectly connected to Pakistan’s support for the Taliban. Pakistan harboured Taliban including Osama, trained and equipped them. All Trump cares about is lining his own pockets and that of his cronies.
I think you will find it was the US who armed and trained the taliban against soviet invasion
And Israel armed Hamas to compete with other Palestinian political parties.
A lesson learnt: be careful whom you arm against your enemy - the beneficiary may turn on you - in time...
You know there like close to 40 years between those events? There was just over 20 between WW1 and WW2. A lot can happen in multiple decades.
Pakistan's ISI was key middleman through which money weapons and brainwashing was routed
Pakistan harboured and trained the Mujahideen (precursor to the Taliban) as a US partner, as it shared the US objective of getting the Russians out of Afghanistan.
With the Taliban in power now, anti-Pakistan Taliban routinely infiltrate Pakistan to attack military and police bases. No love lost here - Pakistan would certainly not offer protection to Taliban leaders or Osama...
How does China take this??
China account for Pakistan’s 80% defence equipment. Infact, Pakistan is receiving most advanced weapons JF-17 and HQ-9/HQ-16.
How Beijing views this Pakistan-US relationship will be interesting.
Probably happy since this affects US-India
(Edited)
They invested billions trying to get to that mythical oil. Billions in CPEC. Sustained manpower losses. Have they withdrawn or is Munir selling it twice?
Not sure but Pakistan have been playing both sides forever
They're laughing as Pakistan is subservient to them for decades
And if these new tariffs bring India closer to them, so much the better.
How Pakistan bought trump would be a better title for the article.
(Edited)
What a price. For investing in crypto, Pakistan has;

- Gotten the US to be overly aggressive towards India,
- As a result, damaged the further integration or formalization of 'the Quad'
- Directly aided China by now derailing what would have been a regional power block through the quad to be a counter weight to China.

Pakistan gets significant breathing room, recuperates some of the lost engagement following the whole Bin Laden fiasco, and is able to aid it's military partner in China.

For an administration that talks tough on China - it is doing so much to basically appease China, it's not even funny.
“Unelected leaders and military officials are willing to overpromise to appeal to what they think is Trump’s narcissism,”

Think? Have they met the Toddler In Chief? It's all about him.
Trump dealing with people who protected Osama?
(Edited)
If the Army knew about OBL it would have leaked out . OBL was never historically a Pak asset so not reasonable to assume he became one on the run. OBL had recorded everything and nothing was found in his records by the US at his home . Pak is guilty of not being bothered about OBL .
The only evidence is that he had a house in an Army town. High walls are not uncommon in Pakistan and neither is a home in an Army district as they have the best facilities. Tribal areas home can look like fortresses and attract no attention. . Doesn't mean anything.
So lazy Western thinking here.
Pakistan is guilty of much but not this one.
Right, because you say so we will all believe you.
It was a very polished response
Their comment was a lot more susbtantive than yours.
Dumbing down FT readers, does not make it “substantive”. Grow up.
Agreed.
Your argument sounds convincing but is wrong. There is no way the Pakistani army, which effectively controls the nation, would not have known about OBL's presence. They has suspected a doctor had given information to the US and he went through hell after OBL was killed. If you are right he should have been given an award, not treated like a traitor.

Read "the wrong enemy" mentioned below. Deceipt and subterfuge is the hallmark of Pakistan.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-WB-55388 has a list of OBL's readings, but we don't find any receipts of take-out food from the local army mess. Or you can read another WSJ article https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/the-last-days-of-osama-bin-laden-11627657283?st=hB3tuv&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink, which highlights OBL's dislike of the Pakistan Army. I was initially curious too how OBL escaped Tora Bora, but then we wouldn't have had an excuse to attack other countries during GWOT: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CPRT-111SPRT53709/html/CPRT-111SPRT53709.htm
apparently this is America first !
Pakistan dealing with the country who killed 1m+ in Iraq??
Pakistan dealing with people who are war criminals and committing a Genocide ?
(Edited)
Highly recommend the book "The wrong enemy" by Carlotta Gall. It will give you a sense how Pakistan has played USA for long. Its a bit dated now, but the playbook is the same. This is unlikely to end well for the US
It is a very good read.
Maybe it's about time the USA gets played twice over...?
(Edited)
That will be the next title "The wrong enemy - redux"