How Pakistan won over the White House
They also had the prisoner on a plane ready for prime time. “Tonight, I am pleased to announce that we have just apprehended the top terrorist responsible for that atrocity, and he is right now on his way here to face the swift sword of American justice,” Donald Trump told a joint session of Congress in March, the biggest set-piece speech of his early second presidency. “And I want to thank, especially, the government of Pakistan for helping arrest this monster.
” Pakistan had a rocky relationship with Mr Trump during his first administration. He accused its government of “lies and deceit” for the way it took American money while providing “safe havens” for Taliban groups fighting US troops. But this time around, it fought and has found a favoured place.
Although both Pakistan and India have spent millions of dollars on US lobbying contracts in the wake of border clashes, employing some of his closest associates, it is Islamabad that has won an edge in Washington over its archrival India. It received better tariff rates than many other countries, and its army chief of staff and prime minister have won face time in the Oval Office. It has done it with a massive charm offensive, nominating Mr Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize and signing deals to open mineral reserves to the US.
None of that would have been possible without the signal it sent in March by helping the Trump administration fulfil one of its top goals.
Sebastian Gorka, Mr Trump’s senior director for counterterrorism, had written two priorities at the top of his whiteboard on his first day in office: Hostages, and“J”. The “J” stood for Jafar, nom de guerre for a senior Isis-K terrorist leader, an Isis affiliate group based in
Afghanistan known as Isis-Khorasan.
On March 2, in a sealed court filing, the US charged Mohammad Sharifullah, allegedly also known as Jafar, with orchestrating the attack on Kabul airport’s main Abbey gate as American troops withdrew. Two days later he was on a plane for Washington as Mr Trump delivered his speech.
A senior Pakistani official said that was the moment when Islamabad’s relationship with the Trump administration
changed. “That was the most important step,” he said.
A former senior Trump administration official agreed. “That was a significant accomplishment so early on, and it reflects well on Pakistan’s intention to work closely with the administration,” he said. The next key moment came in April when terrorists killed 26 tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir. India blamed armed groups it said were backed by Pakistan, and launched missile strikes on its neighbour.
Pakistan responded with air strikes and artillery, threatening all-out war between the two nuclear powers. It ended with a Truth Social post: The responses of the two rivals may have sealed their standing in Washington. Indian officials denied any US role in mediation. Vikram Misri, India’s foreign secretary, said: “Prime Minister Modi emphasised that India has not accepted mediation in the past and will never do.”
Pakistan then nominated Mr Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. “Pakistan is willing to do flattery,” said Michael Kugelman, senior fellow for South Asia at Atlantic Council. “Many countries are not, including India. “And I would also argue that we’ve seen some reports in recent weeks that Pakistan’s government has hired some very powerful lobbyists that have access to Trump and his people.” As war loomed in South Asia, India and Pakistan hired teams in Washington.
India took on Jason Miller, the Trump campaign’s former communications adviser. Pakistan spent at least three times as much, according to paperwork filed with the Department of Justice. Two days after the attack in Kashmir, it recruited Javelin Advisors, set up by two long-time Trump confidants.
Keith Schiller, who rose from being the president’s bodyguard to director of Oval Office operations during the first term, and George Sorial, a former executive with the Trump family firm.
Mr Sorial declined to comment on how they advised the Pakistani government other than to say: “We support the Trump administration’s ‘America First’ agenda by building global alliances that advance prosperity in the United States and throughout the free world — strength through economic diplomacy.”
Washington insiders said it reflected an astute understanding that the Trump administration was unconventional and responded to unconventional approaches. It set the stage for one of the most remarkable elements of the relationship, a visit in June by Asim Munir, Pakistan’s most senior military officer.
His lunch with the president was off camera and off the record, reflecting Pakistani sensitivities at having a military leader – often considered the country’s real power, without his prime minister present. That has not stopped Mr Trump from praising Mr Munir ever since. He singled him out at the signing of the Gaza ceasefire deal in October as his “favourite field marshall”.
Mr Kugelman added that Pakistan had benefited from the current geopolitical moment. “It’s been able to successfully convince the Trump administration that it’s an important player in the Middle East, particularly because of its close ties to the Gulf Cooperation Council states, as well as its friendly relations with Iran, its close proximity to the Middle East, and more recently, the fact that it got a mutual defence pact with Saudi Arabia,” he said, putting itself forward as a partner for Mr Trump’s peace deals. It is also presenting itself as a solution to Washington’s critical minerals worries. China dominates production, making the West reliant on its resources for components in computers, mobile phones and a host of green technologies.
In September, Pakistan signed a memorandum of understanding with Washington to open its estimated $6trn mineral reserves to American companies. Red flags remain. Pakistan’s weak economy and nagging ties to militant groups have tripped it up in the past. “While Islamabad’s agreements with Washington and Riyadh may project Pakistan’s renewed relevance, its structural weaknesses and shaky regional relationships expose the country to the risk of repeating its historical pattern of fleeting diplomatic highs followed by extended periods of isolation,” is how Dalbir Ahlawat of Macquarie University, Australia, put it in a recent paper for the East Asia Forum.
Pakistan’s charm offensive has won it face time in Mr Trump’s Washington. It may need to keep delivering concrete wins to keep itself in favour.
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