When US President Donald Trump invited Pakistani Army Chief Asim Munir for a luncheon at the White House it raised many eye-brows. First beyond all the acceptable diplomatic protocols it was neither Pakistani Head of Government nor the Pakistani Head of State that was considered ‘worthy’ of the honor, rather a mere ‘Service Chief’ was chosen to break the bread with the leader of the Free World.
More than this it challenged the nascent notion of the world’s oldest and the largest democracies shaping the destiny of the world in the 21st century. The discomfort in New Delhi was apparent and PM Narender Modi, who happened to be flying back from G7 outreach in Canada chose to decline President Trump’s, somewhat audacious although not completely surprising, invite to be in Washington on the same afternoon. In the hindsight it appears the original plan was to invite General(or Field Marshall if we say so) Munir for the USA Army’s 250th anniversary day parade as a guest of honor. However, Indian side’s clear messaging made better sense prevail in the D.C. Still ‘the lunch’ combined with US Centcom chief General Kurrila’s testimony before the Congress describing Pakistan as a formidable partner in Counter terrorism effort, in the immediate aftermath of cowardly Pahalgam attack, was enough to indicate what the ‘Strategic Autonomy’ looks like from Washington.
But the puzzle became slightly less intriguing in the coming days. As the US B2s flew in to ‘obliterate’ three Iranian nuclear sites, Rawalpindi’s response was limited to condemning the strikes, albeit within 24 hours of nominating Mr. Trump for Nobel Peace Prize. Does that explain it all? Probably not! What else response, apart from customary lip-service, was expected from ever-pliant Generals in support of the ‘brotherly’ Islamic Republic who was about to threaten its position as the sole owner of the ‘Islamic Bomb’. This alone couldn’t have satisfied White House’s appetite. Is the clue in GHQ’s appendage announcement of USA’s interest in a mutually beneficial trade deal with Pakistan? Are Trump-Rubio looking for their Nixon-Kissinger moment? Indians will have to be ever-vigilant.
In September 2025, Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief Asim Munir visited White House, with Sharif becoming first Pakistani prime minister to visit the White House in six years. But that detail is trivial compared to a viral photograph showing Munir pointing to an open wooden box containing rare earth minerals. Ostensibly the motive was to position Pakistan as an alternative source for critical minerals to help Trump reduce dependence on Pakistan’ s ironclad brother China. Back home, Pakistani Senator Aimal Wali Khan mocked the display, publicly comparing the General to a “salesman” or “shopkeeper” showing off expensive merchandise to a customer.
In January 2026, Pakistan signed a Memorandum of Understanding with little known SC Financial Technologies, an affiliate of World Liberty Financial—a crypto business linked to the family of U.S. President Donald Trump. The agreement explores integrating their dollar-linked $USD1 stablecoin into Pakistan’s cross-border payment infrastructure and digital currency pilot. The announcement represented one of the first publicly announced tie-ups linking World Liberty, a crypto-based finance platform launched in September 2024, and a sovereign state. World Liberty co-founder and chief executive Zach Witkoff happens to be son of Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff.
For Pakistan, real call to action came in March 2026, when once again Israel and USA resorted to carpet bomb Iran. Dutifully Pakistan condemned Israeli aggression, grieved Khamenie’s assassination and donned the broker’s hat to bring a belligerent Iran to negotiating table. There was no grand standing over Islamic brotherhood and neither pretentions of adherence to SMDA with Saudi Arabia as the Gulf monarchy bore the burnt of Iranian counterattack. Perhaps Trump’s sudden warming up to Rawalpindi was more a prelude to Iran campaign than being about anything else. Pakistan rose to the occasion by emerging as Washington’s regional fixer.
But do we need to be over-dismayed about the turn of events. Definitely not, after all we lost in 1962 despite USA’s sympathy and won in 1971 against their wishes. Let us not allow TV headlines to dictate our policy. Rather we need to start thinking long term. And in the long term it is China that matters. And the price for the lunch was paid not only in Washington but will also be felt on the streets of Lahore and Karachi. Anti- Americanism is the reality of Pakistan’s public sentiment and Imran Khan built his whole political existence around this theme which culminated in his presence in Moscow on the fateful morning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Eventually Indo-US partnership might overcome these small irritants as the logic of this partnership outweighs any transactional consideration by an particular presidency. But the Trump administration’s one after another reckless moves continue to undermine the substance of it. Imposition of globally highest tariff on Indian exports, attacks on Indian commercial shipping and US administration’s repeated assertion of mediation in India’s bilateral conflicts have made New Delhi shed any complacency it ever had about the relationship with the USA. As of Pakistan, it is a master of its tactical game and Americans understand that too.
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