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News18
3 days ago
- Politics
- News18
Munir's White House Welcome: Trump's Risky Bet On Pakistan's Terror-Linked General
Donald Trump's narrative, bolstered by Asim Munir's presence, raises questions: Is this genuine diplomacy or a bid for influence in South Asia? The invitation of Pakistan's Army Chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, to a White House lunch with U.S. President Donald Trump has ignited diplomatic tensions, particularly with India. Trump's claim that he brokered a May 2025 ceasefire between India and Pakistan, following a four-day conflict sparked by the Pahalgam terror attack, has been debunked by New Delhi. India asserts the ceasefire was a direct military agreement, with no U.S. involvement. Yet, Trump persists, linking his alleged mediation to trade incentives and offering to resolve the Kashmir dispute—a proposal India has long rejected. Munir's visit, amid accusations of his role in the Pahalgam massacre and Pakistan's military attending terrorist funerals in Muridke, amplifies concerns. Trump's narrative, bolstered by Munir's presence, raises questions: Is this genuine diplomacy or a bid for influence in South Asia? Munir's provocative rhetoric before the attack, coupled with Pakistan's overt support for terrorists, underscores his destabilising influence. The May 2025 conflict, triggered by a Pakistan-backed terrorist attack in Pahalgam on April 22 that killed 26, escalated with cross-border strikes and nuclear threats. On May 10, a ceasefire was announced, halting hostilities. Trump claimed he mediated a 'full and immediate ceasefire" through a 'long night of talks." India's Ministry of External Affairs, however, stated the truce was negotiated directly between the Indian and Pakistani DGMOs, with Pakistan's DGMO initiating contact at 3:35 PM on May 10 due to military pressure from India's strikes on Pakistani airbases. No US mediation occurred. Munir's role in provoking the conflict is evident: on April 16, he delivered a speech invoking the two-nation theory, calling Kashmir Pakistan's 'jugular vein" and urging Pakistanis to highlight Hindu-Muslim differences. This rhetoric, described as a 'dog-whistle" by Indian officials, preceded the attack by six days, with terrorists targeting non-Muslims, aligning with Munir's communal framing. Former Pakistani officer Adil Raja claimed Munir ordered the attack via the ISI, a charge echoed by U.S. expert Michael Rubin, who likened Munir to a terrorist. Trump's narrative, amplified by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, ignores these facts, straining U.S.-India ties. By crediting himself, Trump emboldens Pakistan's military, which faces domestic unrest, to leverage U.S. support, risking further escalation in a fragile region. INDIA'S STANCE: NO ROOM FOR MEDIATION India has consistently rejected third-party mediation on Kashmir, citing the 1972 Simla Agreement's bilateral framework. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a June 2025 call with Trump, clarified the ceasefire was a military-to-military agreement, not U.S.-brokered. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri dismissed Trump's trade incentive claims, stating no such talks occurred. India's stance reflects its sensitivity to external involvement in Kashmir, an integral part of its territory. Trump's mediation offer, coupled with praise for Munir and Modi, disregards India's red lines, risking domestic backlash. The Indian opposition, led by Congress, has questioned Modi's silence on Trump's claims, fearing it may signal tacit acceptance of mediation. India's rebuttal is a strategic message to global powers, cautioning against interference in South Asia's nuclear flashpoint. Munir's provocative speech and the Pahalgam attack's timing underscore Pakistan's intent to destabilise India, yet Trump's engagement with Munir ignores this context. By aligning with Pakistan's military, accused of state-sponsored terrorism, Trump undermines US-India relations, critical for countering China. India's warning against Pakistan's 'nuclear blackmail" and its diplomatic offensive, including suspending the Indus Waters Treaty, signal its resolve to maintain strategic autonomy, making Trump's overreach a costly miscalculation. THE GEOPOLITICAL CONTEXT: MUNIR'S VISIT AND PAKISTAN'S GAMBIT Munir's White House invitation, a rare honour for a military chief without civilian leaders, signals a US tilt toward Pakistan's military establishment. His visit follows his nomination of Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize for averting nuclear war, aligning with Trump's ceasefire narrative. However, it coincides with damning evidence of Pakistan's terror links. At a funeral in Muridke on May 8, 2025, for terrorists killed in India's Operation Sindoor, top Pakistani military officials, including Lt. Gen. Fayyaz Hussain Shah and Maj. Gen. Rao Imran Sartaj, attended, alongside Punjab police chief Usman Anwar. Coffins draped in Pakistani flags and wreaths laid on behalf of Munir and Punjab CM Maryam Nawaz underscored state patronage. Lashkar-e-Taiba's Hafiz Abdul Rauf, a US-designated terrorist, led the ceremony, exposing Pakistan's military-terror nexus. Munir's ties to terrorism are further evidenced by his tenure as ISI chief during the 2019 Pulwama attack and claims by ex-Pakistani officer Adil Raja that Munir masterminded Pahalgam with ISI support. Domestic protests in Pakistan, with hashtags like #ResignAsimMunir, accuse him of orchestrating the attack to deflect from internal dissent. Pakistan's support for Iran amid tensions with Israel complicates Munir's US engagement, yet Trump's outreach may aim to counter Iran via Pakistan's nuclear leverage. This risks alienating India, a vital Indo-Pacific partner. Munir's visit, alongside a Trump family-linked crypto deal in April 2025, suggests personal motives may cloud U.S. strategy, enabling Pakistan's military to exploit Trump's overtures while deepening regional instability. Trump's ceasefire falsehoods and Munir's White House visit have profound implications. First, they strain US-India ties, critical for countering China, as India's public rebuttal signals distrust. Second, they embolden Pakistan's military, accused of backing terrorists, as seen in Muridke's state funerals. Munir's provocation through his April 16 speech, inciting communal violence, and his ISI history link him directly to terror networks, yet Trump's engagement legitimizes him. Third, the ceasefire's fragility—evidenced by violations hours after its announcement—highlights the limits of Trump's diplomacy. Without addressing Kashmir or cross-border terrorism, the truce risks collapse, with Trump's premature claims eroding US credibility. Fourth, Trump's Kashmir mediation offer inflames Indian sentiment, potentially weakening Modi's domestic standing. Globally, Trump's actions project a US administration disconnected from South Asia's realities, undermining its neutral arbiter role. Munir's visit, framed as a diplomatic win, instead exposes Trump's transactional approach, prioritizing optics over strategy. To mitigate risks, the U.S. must respect India's bilateral framework, engage Pakistan's civilian leadership, and avoid Kashmir rhetoric. Failure to do so could fuel escalation, empower Pakistan's military-terror nexus, and destabilise a nuclear-armed region, with Trump's overreach bearing the blame. The author teaches journalism at St Xavier's College (autonomous), Kolkata. His handle on X is @sayantan_gh. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. 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First Post
04-07-2025
- Politics
- First Post
‘Was always an attempt from our end': Top Pak journo on how Trump came into India-Pakistan ceasefire scene
Najam Sethi, a senior Pakistani journalist deemed close to the establishment, recently admitted on air that it was Islamabad that approached the Trump administration several times during the four-day military conflict with India read more A top Pakistani journalist has punctured the Pakistani narrative of 'victory' over India in the recent military standoff, revealing how Islamabad repeatedly pressed the Donald Trump administration of the US to get the ceasefire done with New Delhi. Najam Sethi, a senior Pakistani journalist deemed close to the establishment, recently admitted on air that it was Islamabad that approached the Trump administration several times during the four-day military conflict with India in May. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD He also hailed Pakistan's lobbying efforts in Washington DC and credited them for persuading Trump to help broker the ceasefire. Pakistan was dying for a ceasefire and had been lobbying to approach Trump for the same. India kept rejecting. Story of Pakistan's 'victory' by Najam Sethi. - @pakistan_untold — Imtiaz Mahmood (@ImtiazMadmood) July 4, 2025 'We have been thanking Trump (for ceasefire). We thanked him back then too for this initiative (ceasefire). India didn't do the same … Trump kept on saying that he brokered a ceasefire. But Modi rejected this claim and said that it was the DGMOs who got it done,' Sethi said. 'It was always an attempt from our end to keep a relationship going with Trump. And we have been successful. We tried from all ends … a lot of lobbying companies were operating. It was a concerted effort,' the senior journalist said. The admission by Sethi has once again revealed Islamabad's duplicity, as it projected a defiant stance during the military hostilities while secretly lobbying for US mediation. India has consistently asserted that its military actions were a response to Pakistan's aggression, and it was Pakistan that ultimately sought a ceasefire. Prime Minister Narendra Modi explicitly denied any third-party mediation during a recent phone call with Trump, emphasising that the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) from both sides had agreed to a ceasefire on May 10. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD India's strikes on Pakistan's air bases and its assertive naval manoeuvres reportedly marked a significant turning point in the four-day conflict, pressuring Islamabad to agree to a ceasefire. Previously, Najam Sethi acknowledged that India had effectively neutralised Pakistan's air defence systems, leaving its airspace exposed during Operation Sindoor. During a Pakistani TV news discussion, Sethi noted that the Indian Air Force's strategic drone-led attacks crippled Pakistan's defences.
Time of India
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
'Will Cross That Bridge When...' Jaishankar Responds to 500% US Tariff Threat Over Russia Bill
'We Decide, Not Pakistan'- Jaishankar Clarifies on India-US Ties, Rejects Trump's Ceasefire Claims External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar has strongly rejected former US President Donald Trump's repeated claims that a ceasefire between India and Pakistan after Operation Sindoor was achieved through trade diplomacy. In a sharp statement in Washington DC, Jaishankar clarified that the ceasefire was a military-to-military understanding negotiated solely by the DGMOs of India and Pakistan. 'The record is very clear,' he said, reaffirming that India's decisions are based on its own national interest, not outside mediation. Trump had earlier said trade talks helped "stop the war," but Jaishankar firmly stated that India-US ties stand on their own merit. As Operation Sindoor continues to reshape the geopolitical balance, India's stand against terrorism and its principled diplomacy remain the core of its global engagement. Watch for key insights, reactions, and what this means for India-US-Pakistan dynamics.#jaishankar #trump #operationSindoor #indiapakistan #ceasefire #usindiaties #foreignpolicy #pahalgamattack #terrorism #geopolitics #toi #toibharat #bharat #breakingnews #indianews 8.8K views | 3 hours ago
Hindustan Times
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Jaishankar on Trump's India-Pak ceasefire claims: 'What happened very clear, will leave it at that'
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday again clarified that the ceasefire understanding between India and Pakistan after the military conflict in May was reached with negotiations between the DGMOs of the two countries and not any trade talk, as claimed by US President Donald Trump. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar speaks to the press in Washington DC(S Jaishankar - X) Donald Trump has claimed several times of using trade as a means of resolving the India-Pakistan conflict, which was triggered after the April 22 Pahalgam terrorist attack and escalated with India's retaliation through 'Operation Sindoor' on May 7. On US President Donald Trump's remarks on the ceasefire between India and Pakistan*, EAM Dr S Jaishankar said on Thursday while speaking to the press in Washington DC, "The record of what happened at that time was very clear and the ceasefire was something which was negotiated between the DGMOs of the two countries..." 'I will leave it at that,' Jaishankar added. During the fireside chat with Newsweek earlier this week as well, Jaishankar stated that he was 'in the room' when US Vice Prsident Vance spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the night of May 9. Jaishankar said Vance had told PM Modi that Pakistan would launch a massive assault on India if they did not accept certain things. According to him, PM Modi during the call indicated that there would be a response from India. "In terms of what has been our position, yes, we have for many years it's not a position just of this government in Delhi, I mean it's been a national consensus that our dealings with Pakistan are bilateral and in this particular case, I can tell you that when I was in the room when Vice President Vance spoke to Prime Minister Modi on the night of 9th May saying that you know the Pakistanis would launch a very massive assault on India if we did not accept certain things and the prime minister was impervious to what the Pakistanis were threatening to do on the contrary he (PM Modi) indicated that there would be a response from us this was the night before. Something the Pakistanis did was attack us massively that night, we responded very quickly thereafter, and the next morning, Mr Rubio called me up and said the Pakistanis were ready to talk. So, I can only tell you from my personal experience what happened," Jaishankar said in the interview. Despite India's denials, Trump has repeatedly claimed to have brokered peace between India and Pakistan after India launched Operation Sindoor. On May 10, foreign secretary Vikram Misri had announced that Pakistan's Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) had called the Indian counterpart, and it was agreed between them that both sides would cease all firing and military action on land, in the air, and at sea. Operation Sindoor was launched by the Indian armed forces on May 7, targeting nine terror sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir (PoK) in response to a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam on April 22, in which 26 civilians were killed terrorists found to have links with Pakistan.
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First Post
21-06-2025
- Politics
- First Post
US-Pakistan bonhomie: Why India should not be surprised
It's no surprise that Pakistan may once again become a frontline state in US strategy for the South and West Asian region — and America's ties with India could suffer collateral damage read more Should India be surprised by the latest turn in US-Pakistan relations under the Trump 2.0 administration? Analysts of Indo-US relations have often characterised this relationship as the one with 'ups and downs' or 'peaks and valleys', particularly during four decades of the Cold War. But US-Pakistan relations have witnessed more extensive fluctuations in history, and that pattern continues until today. Pakistan is yet to learn lessons from the extreme oscillations of its ties with the United States, and currently Islamabad seems excessively jubilant over the latest turn in its ties with the Trump White House. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD President Donald Trump, who had accused Pakistan of offering nothing but 'lies and deceits', is all praise for the Pakistani Army Chief Asim Munir. He truly honoured a terror-sponsoring field marshal by hosting lunch for him in the White House—a rare gesture in US history—and thanked him for ending Pakistan's war against India that could have gone nuclear. There is recorded evidence that it was the Pakistani Army's DGMO who called India's DGMO requesting 'ceasefire'. Field Marshal Munir has openly expressed President Trump's intervention in ending the armed conflict and even suggested that Trump should be awarded the coveted Nobel Peace Prize. What he has not revealed is Pakistan's SOS call to Washington to push for a ceasefire with India after the Indian military not only destroyed several terror camps in Pakistan but also severely damaged Pakistani military bases. When advised by Washington to speak to the Indian side and ask for a ceasefire, Pakistan's DGMO did that. President Trump is right that he played a role in the India-Pakistan ceasefire, but that role was confined to giving sane advice to Islamabad to seek a ceasefire agreement. India thus is right as well in repeatedly asserting that the ceasefire agreement was the outcome of conversations between the DGMOs of the two countries and it was not because of any mediation by Washington. The whole irony of the Trump-Munir luncheon meeting lies in the fact that it took place so soon after the Pahalgam attacks by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists that forced India to punish the terrorists and their sponsors. It was wise on the part of President Trump to advise Pakistan to seek a ceasefire agreement with India, but it was ill-advised on his part to sing praise of Pakistan's contribution to counterterrorism efforts. First, the CENTCOM head General Michael Kurilla described Pakistan as a 'phenomenal' counterterrorism partner in his Congressional testimony. Now the president of the US bestows all praise on the Pakistani field marshal. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Washington is well aware of Pakistani duplicity in counterterrorism operations undertaken by the US in Afghanistan. How Pakistan under General Pervez Musharraf was taking billions of dollars of economic and military assistance from the United States and diverting some of the wealth to strengthen the anti-Western Haqqani network in Afghanistan is not unknown to the policy community in the US. How a Pakistani nuclear scientist once visited Al Qaeda supremo Osama bin Laden in the caves of Afghanistan is also not a secret. Nor is the place where Osama bin Laden was hiding, and the Obama administration captured him without informing Islamabad and by violating Pakistani sovereignty, also known to the world. That even a few American citizens were killed in the Pakistan-sponsored terrorist attack on the Taj Hotel in Mumbai could not have been an unfamiliar event to the Trump advisors. Why is there then this renewed praise for Pakistan's contribution to counterterrorism so soon after the Pakistani hand in the brutal and inhuman terror attacks in Pahalgam? It is because the Trump administration may need Pakistan's endorsement for probable US military intervention in Iran. Pakistan's memory of its engagements with the US is too short. It willingly joined the US-backed regional collective security groupings, such as CENTO and SEATO, and soon found that these two alliances were of no use in its anti-India misadventures in 1965 or 1971. Pakistan played the key role of being a conduit for America in its anti-Soviet proxy war for 10 years in Afghanistan, from 1979 to 1989, only to be abandoned after the Soviet withdrawal of troops in 1989. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Pakistan expected the US to quietly look the other way at its clandestine nuclear activities for serving so well the US interests in Afghanistan in the 1980s. But Washington imposed the Pressler Amendment and cut off all assistance to Pakistan after the end of Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan. Pakistan went to the extent of offering its troops for US operations during the Kuwaiti crisis of 1990-1991 with the hope that Washington would show leniency on nuclear issues. But it failed in its attempt. The US used Pakistan as a frontline state as long as its troops remained in Afghanistan until their full withdrawal by the Biden administration. But after the return of the Taliban in Afghanistan, Pakistan's strategic relevance ended, and it was almost abandoned by the US. President Joe Biden described Pakistan as the 'most dangerous' country in the world. Pakistan has learnt no lesson, and yet again it seems to be offering its help for any probable military operations in Iran by the Trump administration. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD It is clear that the Iran-Israel war figured prominently in the conversation between Pakistan's strongman and President Trump. In Trump's views, Pakistan knows a lot about Iran. Pakistan's knowledge about Iran could be useful to any future American intervention in Iran. After all, Pakistan shares about 900 km of border with Iran. Pakistan would prefer to have a monopoly over the 'Islamic Bomb', and that would be possible if Iran's ability to go nuclear is erased. In the game of periodic mutual love and hate, friend and foe, and embrace and divorce equations between Pakistan and the United States, India faces the collateral damage, and it should take timely steps to safeguard its national security. There is thus no surprise that Pakistan may yet again become a frontline state for the US strategy in the South and West Asian region. The author is founding chairperson, Kalinga Institute of Indo-Pacific Studies, and editor, India Quarterly. The views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost's views. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
