Pakistan Faces Uncertain Future Amid Trump’s Possible Comeback

The PM Office’s publishing of the Trump-Nawaz call transcript was unusual and went against the Republican leader’s election campaign position on Pakistan. Trump’s description of Pakistan as a “great country” surprised many.

This was the same Trump who at his election campaign discussed Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program and questioned the country’s role in the war on terror.

The fact that tens of thousands of US troops were engaged in an unwinnable war in Afghanistan was one of the reasons Trump even spoke to Nawaz before taking an official oath. 

Trump, who criticised foreign conflicts and called the invasion of Afghanistan a mistake, wished to remove all of his soldiers as quickly as possible. But without Pakistan’s assistance that would not have been possible.

However, Trump fulfilled his election pledge by cancelling all military and humanitarian funding to Pakistan even though Washington had previously reduced this aid.

Nonetheless, to spare the US some embarrassment Obama turned to Pakistan for assistance in negotiating a solution in Afghanistan. He then made direct contact with Imran Khan, the prime minister at the time.

Afghanistan has frequently served as a catalyst for relations with the United States therefore Pakistan was ready to seize that chance.

But Trump and Imran Khan established a direct line of communication. Because of Trump’s close aide Senator Lindsey Graham who much admired Imran helped him make those connections.

Trump referred to Imran as his “great friend.” They both crossed paths a number of times but the US-Pakistan relationship did not significantly change as a result of those discussions.

There have been significant changes since 2016. The world is much more unstable now than it was during Trump’s first term in office. 

Europe views the situation in Ukraine which is still going on, as an existential threat. Then there’s the Middle East where a crisis is smouldering. Israel has persisted in its homicidal practices in the West Bank, Gaza and now Lebanon.

However, the Trump administration still has a ton of other problems to handle and Pakistan doesn’t appear to be one of them.