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.
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 will overcome these small irritants as the logic of this partnership outweighs any transactional consideration by an particular presidency. Trump administration on its part sought to address some of the concerns by designating The Resistance Front as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT). We just need to stay invested in nurturing the partnership without compromising on pillars like Strategic Autonomy and Multipolarity.
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