How Pakistan wooed Trump and rattled India, Financial Times

Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Asim Munir, has pulled off a diplomatic coup this summer, securing high-level meetings in the United States ,  including a private lunch with President Donald Trump in a development signaling a surprising improvement in Washington-Islamabad relations, The Financial Times reports.

According to FT correspondents in Islamabad, New Delhi, and Washington, Munir was welcomed twice in the US over recent months. Most notably, he was hosted in Florida at the retirement ceremony of Gen. Michael Kurilla, head of US Central Command, and earlier in June, he met with Trump for a two-hour private lunch — a striking shift given the former president’s past criticism of Pakistan.

Michael Kugelman, senior fellow at the Asia Pacific Foundation, described the situation as “an unexpected resurgence” in relations, crediting Pakistan’s diplomatic maneuvering. “Pakistan has very successfully understood how to engage with such an unconventional president,” he said.

The FT attributes the warming ties to a multi-pronged strategy by Pakistan: increased counterterrorism cooperation, outreach to Trump-linked business figures, and deals in energy, minerals, and cryptocurrency. A major turning point was Pakistan’s March arrest and handover of an ISIS-K suspect involved in the 2021 Kabul airport bombing, which Trump praised in his State of the Union address.

Another milestone came in April with an agreement between World Liberty Financial — a Trump-backed cryptocurrency venture — and Pakistan’s crypto council. During a visit, a co-founder highlighted Pakistan’s untapped mineral potential.

The diplomatic detente has unsettled India, which reacted with “deep irritation,” the FT said. Tensions escalated after the US raised tariffs on Indian goods to 50%, while Pakistan faced only a 19% rate.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi rejected Trump’s claim of brokering a ceasefire in May between India and Pakistan, stressing that the truce was reached through direct military channels.