It was telling of the sensitivity around Pakistan’s diplomacy with the United States that reports emerged this week about India lodging a protest after President Donald Trump chose recently to host a lunch meeting with Pakistan’s military chief.
After years of isolation, Pakistan’s leadership has succeeded in winning over the US administration at the very top level. The White House lunch in June with Pakistan’s Field Marshal Asim Munir saw one of the most powerful men in Pakistan’s hybrid regime become the first Pakistani military leader – who has not imposed martial law – have a one-on-one meeting with the US President.
This marked a massive upgrade in diplomatic relations compared to the experience of the Biden years. As president, Joe Biden did not even call Imran Khan, Pakistan’s Prime Minister from 2018 to 2022. A mid-level State Department official told Pakistani officials in 2021 that the Biden administration has downgraded the bilateral relationship with Pakistan. Even with the change of government in Pakistan, the relationship did not substantially improve. Biden wrote a letter to new Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in 2024 and had a brief photo-op meeting with Sharif at a United Nations General Assembly reception, with no other public contact.
After Trump’s inauguration in January this year, things began to change in a good way for Pakistan. During a joint address to Congress, Trump thanked Pakistan for helping to arrest the mastermind of the Abbey Gate bombing, in which 13 American soldiers were killed during the final days of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. Trump also claimed a crucial role in ensuring a ceasefire between Pakistan and India in May (a point disputed by India).
Munir’s meeting with Trump came as the culmination of Pakistan’s efforts to restore ties with the United States. Two main factors appeared central in helping Islamabad to win over Trump.
First was Pakistan’s embrace of crypto and adoption of digital currencies in line with Trump’s agenda.
In March, Pakistan formed a Crypto Council and also appointed a Minister for Crypto. In April, Pakistan’s Crypto Council signed an agreement with World Liberty Financial, a company in which Trump’s family holds a 60% stake, according to reports. In May, Bilal bin Saqib, Pakistan’s Crypto Minister said during a Crypto event in Las Vegas that he wanted to recognise Trump for being the president who saved crypto. Saqib later held a meeting at the White House with US officials in June.
Second, Pakistan also nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize for ending the India-Pakistan conflict in May. A Trump spokesperson told reporters that Munir was invited by Trump to the White House because of Pakistan’s nomination. Trump has long coveted a Nobel Prize, won by his predecessor Barack Obama, and the Pakistani leadership smartly capitalised on this desire to get in Trump’s good books.
Continued support from Trump will require Pakistan to make concessions.
As with much of Pakistan’s diplomacy, arch-rival India looms large in considerations. Trump has already shown indications that he favours Pakistan’s version of how the May conflict unfolded between India and Pakistan. Trump has repeatedly claimed that he brokered the ceasefire and is ready to mediate on Kashmir. India consistently denies this claim, saying the ceasefire was brokered bilaterally between India and Pakistan, and that Trump had no role in it. India has a longstanding opposition to third-party mediation over the Kashmir conflict.
Pakistan also claims to have shot down five Indian jets during the May conflict. India initially denied the claim, later admitting the loss of aircraft without specifying numbers. Trump has echoed Pakistan’s version and said that five fighter jets were shot down, repeating the claim again as recently as last week. This has offered Pakistan an unexpected supporter against India, despite the fact that India is a key Indo-Pacific partner of the United States.
But continued support from Trump will require Pakistan to make concessions. Notably, this will involve critical minerals, which has been at the centre of US-China rivalry. The United States is particularly interested in Pakistan’s reserves of antimony, a mineral used in flame retardants and batteries, among others. Both countries are in talks to draw up a mineral deal. That risks earning Beijing’s ire.
Pakistan will also have to tread a delicate path with Trump on Middle East policy, particularly over US talks with Iran to end its nuclear program. Pakistan has its own strategic interest in not opposing neighbouring Iran, although the two have themselves recently traded blows.
While Pakistan has managed to woo Trump for now, the next White House meal might not be easy to schedule.