ISLAMABAD, Aug 12 (Alliance News): The world-renowned British newspaper Financial Times has reported an unexpected improvement in relations between Pakistan and the United States, a development that has reportedly unsettled India.
The report attributes the thaw to recent high-level diplomatic engagements between the administration of US President Donald Trump and Pakistan.
Field Marshal General Asim Munir undertook two high-profile visits to the United States this summer, including a recent trip to Florida to attend the retirement ceremony of General Michael Corella, head of the US Central Command.
Earlier in June, General Munir had a two-hour private lunch with President Trump, held just a month after the deadliest Pakistan-India confrontation in decades.
This meeting is considered significant given Trump’s past criticism of Pakistan, marking what analysts describe as a complete shift in tone.
“This development in US-Pakistan relations is astonishing,” Michael Kugelman, senior analyst at the Asia Pacific Foundation, told Financial Times. “I would call it an unexpected relaunch, a new era. Pakistan has mastered the art of developing relations with this unconventional president.”
According to the publication, Pakistan’s strategy combined counterterrorism cooperation, outreach to influential figures in Trump’s business network, and deals in energy, mineral resources, and cryptocurrency, alongside targeted positive messaging to the White House.
In March, Pakistan arrested and handed over to US authorities a key ISIS-Khorasan suspect believed to have orchestrated the 2021 Kabul airport bombing. President Trump hailed the arrest as a major achievement for Pakistan during his State of the Union address.
In April, a deal was signed between Trump-backed cryptocurrency venture World Liberty Financial and Pakistan’s Crypto Council. A co-founder of the venture, during a visit to Pakistan, praised the country’s vast mineral resources.
The report states that India has reacted angrily to the shifting dynamic, particularly after the US raised import tariffs on Indian goods to 50% while maintaining Pakistan’s at 19%.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also rejected Trump’s claim that the US had brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan in May.
