LONDON: Pakistan’s recent diplomatic engagements with the administration of US President Donald Trump have led to a marked improvement in bilateral relations and triggered deep concern in India, the Financial Times (FT) has reported in a detailed piece.
In a report by correspondents in Islamabad, New Delhi and Washington, the London-based newspaper described what it called an “unexpected resurgence” in relations between Islamabad and Washington.
The newspaper said Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir has twice been received in high-level settings in the US this summer, most recently in Florida, where he attended the retirement ceremony of Gen Michael Kurilla, head of US Central Command.
According to the FT, Asim Munir also met President Trump in June for a two-hour private lunch, just a month after Pakistan and India experienced their bloodiest confrontation in decades.
Michael Kugelman, a non-resident senior fellow at the Asia Pacific Foundation, told the FT: “What’s happening in US-Pakistan relations is a surprise. 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.”
The FT attributed the change in tone to a diplomatic strategy by senior Pakistani officials, combining counterterrorism cooperation, outreach to individuals in Trump’s business network, and agreements involving energy, mineral resources and cryptocurrency. These moves, it said, were accompanied by positive messaging towards the White House.
A key development cited in the report was the March arrest and transfer to US custody of an ISIS-K suspect alleged to have organised the 2021 Kabul airport bombing. Trump publicly commended Pakistan for the arrest in his State of the Union address.
The newspaper also detailed an April agreement between World Liberty Financial, a Trump-backed cryptocurrency initiative, and Pakistan’s crypto council. One of the venture’s co-founders remarked during a visit to Pakistan on the scale of the country’s mineral resources.
On the regional response, the FT said India reacted with “deep irritation” to the warming of ties, particularly after facing a US tariff increase to 50 per cent, while Pakistan’s rate was set at 19 per cent. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi disputed Trump’s assertion that the US had mediated a May ceasefire between the two countries, with New Delhi emphasising that the agreement had been reached through direct channels between their armed forces.
