Trump's return: uncertain prospects for Pakistan
When Donald Trump won the elections for the first time in November 2016, he didn't take long to pick up the secure line and speak to the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
The Trump-Nawaz conversation transcript released by the PM Office was unprecedented and contrary to the Republican leader's stance on Pakistan during his election campaign. Much to the surprise of many, Trump described Pakistan as a "great country".
This was the same Trump, who during his election rallies, questioned the role of Pakistan in the fight against terrorism and also spoke about the country's nuclear weapons program.
But that was Trump being Trump, whose unconventional leadership style brings with him unpredictable policies.
One of the reasons Trump even didn't wait for the formal oath to speak to Nawaz was that tens of thousands of US troops stationed in Afghanistan were stuck in an unwinnable war. Trump, who spoke against the foreign wars and termed the Afghanistan invasion a blunder, wanted to withdraw all of his military men sooner than later. But that was not possible without Pakistan's help.
Trump, however, lived up to his election promise by cutting off all military and civil aid to Pakistan, though such assistance had already dwindled from Washington.
Nevertheless, he sought Pakistan's help in securing a deal in Afghanistan in order to save some grace for the US. That was when he directly approached the then prime minister Imran Khan. Pakistan was quick to pounce on that opportunity as Afghanistan has often been the driving force behind ties with the US.
Living up to his unconventional style of governance, Trump opened a direct channel of communication with Imran Khan. Of course, those contacts were helped by Trump's close aide Senator Lindsey Graham, who was a great admirer of Imran.
The direct communication between Pakistan and the White House led to Trump's invitation to Imran Khan to visit Washington. People within the American establishment were not in favour of granting that honor to Pakistan even before the Afghan deal was yet to be sealed.
Trump, however, went ahead with his invitation and hosted Imran, calling him a "great friend." They both subsequently met on several other occasions. But those exchanges failed to bring any substantive change in the Pakistan-US relationship.
When Joe Biden took over the White House in 2020, he didn't even bother to make a courtesy call with the Pakistani prime minister, reinforcing the perception that Washington no longer considered Islamabad top foreign policy priority. The subsequent withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan in August 2021 further diminished Pakistan's importance in the eyes of Washington.
Source: The Express Tribune
