ADNAN AAMIR
ISLAMABAD — The lunch meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, at the White House on Wednesday proved something of a diplomatic breakthrough as Islamabad woos Trump with its recently announced national crypto reserve plan.
Munir became the first serving army chief of Pakistan who was not at the head of a military government to have a meeting with a sitting U.S. president. It was also the first interaction between a top Pakistani official and a U.S. president since July 2019, when Prime Minister Imran Khan and Trump met in the White House. Biden did not meet his Pakistani counterpart during his four-year tenure.
“The reason I had [Munir] here was that I wanted to thank him for not going into the war [with India],” Trump told reporters after the meeting. The serious recent clash after a deadly attack in India-administered Kashmir began on May 7, and involved fighter jets, missiles and drones. By the time a ceasefire was agreed on May 10, there were 51 dead in Pakistan and at least 16 in India.
How all this translated into a White House lunch invitation for Munir has not been made clear, but there are some theories.
“The Trump-Munir meeting took place due to a combination of Trump’s dismissiveness and irritation toward [Indian Prime Minister Narendra] Modi, his preference for directly engaging with strongmen, and his self-image as a global peacemaker,” Cyril Almeida, a political analyst based in Islamabad, told Nikkei Asia.
A Pakistani official hinted the meeting was the result of extensive diplomatic efforts by Islamabad, including the recent announcement of a national crypto reserve.
“Counterterrorism cooperation between the U.S. and Pakistan — and the engagement with crypto-linked influential networks –played a key role in securing the meeting,” the official told Nikkei on condition of anonymity.
Earlier this month, Nikkei Asia reported that Pakistan had unveiled the crypto reserve plan as a diplomatic tactic to strengthen ties with Trump.
The meeting was also attended by Asim Malik, Pakistan’s national security adviser. Comments by Trump and the Pakistan Army indicated that the India-Pakistan clash was the main topic. Although Pakistani officials were circumspect, it is believed that cooperation on cryptocurrency and counterterrorism, the Israel-Iran war and Pakistan’s natural resources were also discussed.
“I stopped the war between Pakistan and India,” said Trump after the meeting. “This man (Munir) was extremely influential in stopping it from the Pakistan side, Modi from the India side, and others.”
“Talks for ceasing military action happened directly between India and Pakistan through existing military channels,” Vikram Misri, India’s foreign secretary, said on Wednesday. “India has not accepted mediation in the past and will never do.”
Some observers said Trump’s stance on the India-Pakistan conflict will affect Pakistan diplomatically.
“India under Modi has baulked at engaging Pakistan at any level for nearly a decade now,” Almeida said. “The direct engagement with Pakistan of the West is likely to make the Modi government even more intransigent and refuse to engage Pakistan at all.”
Qamar Cheema, executive director of Sanober Institute, an Islamabad-based think tank, told Nikkei that the meeting “sends a message to India that bilateral issues with Pakistan must be addressed.” If India continues to resist engagement, its intransigence may result in “a broader opening for Pakistan to expand its diplomatic and strategic profile in the region,” he said.
There was some expectation that Pakistan might ask the U.S. to intercede with India on the issue of the Indus Waters Treaty, which India has held in abeyance since late April. But some observers countered that it is unrealistic to imagine American leadership can compel India to discuss the treaty or the territorial dispute between India and Pakistan over Kashmir.
“Even if the U.S. believes mediation is necessary, India is unlikely to accept it, especially on such sensitive issues,” said Cheema.
According to Inter-Services Public Relations, the Pakistan Army mouthpiece, Trump said Iran was discussed and that Pakistan knew its neighbor better than most.
Some analyst have suggested Trump’s comments indicate the U.S. wants help from Pakistan should he decide to join the Israel-Iran conflict militarily.
“The U.S. may expect access to [Pakistan’s] airspace and cooperation if conflict moves toward the regime change option,” Muhammad Shoaib, a postdoctoral fellow at George Mason University in the U.S., told Nikkei.
The White House said on Thursday that Trump will decide in the next two weeks whether the U.S. will get involved in the Israel-Iran war.
Cheema said that it is too early to say whether Pakistan might play a major role in any U.S. operations in Iran. “While it remains unclear what Pakistan can or cannot do in such a scenario, Islamabad prefers a stable Iran, recognizing that any instability there would directly affect Pakistan’s own national interest,” Cheema said.
The article appeared in the asia.nikkei