With just over two weeks left till his inauguration, the US President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has been sending mixed signals around the world on different local as well as foreign policy matters. Only a few weeks after the conversation between President-elect Trump and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, where Trump had termed Pakistan as ‘a great’ country and had vowed to work together, a member of his transition, Shalabh Kumar, has said that the incoming President was not going to tolerate a dual role from India’s neighbour. The veiled reference obviously referred to Pakistan and its dubious policies of compartmentalisation of terrorists into good and bad groups. Kumar had said both Washington and New Delhi would share good defence cooperation in the fight against terrorism.
Trump had pledged that the United States and India would be “best friends” if he is elected and that he would boost intelligence sharing with India in the battle against militants. Kumar also said the prime objective during the first year of Trump’s presidency was to increase trade between the two countries.
Kumar’s statement might have been influenced under the circumstances, given that he was in India. But the recent warming of ties between India and the US cannot be ignored. India-US relations have flourished under President Barack Obama and Modi, with the two countries striking key defence agreements last year. The two countries cooperate on a broad range of issues, including counterterrorism, regional security and defence. India is also a major market for US weapons. Although the analysts believe that the US cannot ditch Pakistan any time soon because of the situation in Afghanistan, the warming of India-US ties and an increasing Indian influence in Afghanistan could potentially affect US-Pakistan relations. The strong Hindu lobby in America had been rooting for Trump, and now that he is all ready to become the 45th President of the United States, they will up the ante by whipping up the anti-Pakistan rhetoric in Washington. This is where Pakistan needs a mature display of its foreign policy, out-rightly addressing any apprehensions in the mind of theinternational community regarding Pakistan’s role in the war against terror. Both Pakistan and the US are reliant on each other to achieve a foreseeable peace in Afghanistan,and this regard, any misunderstanding, especially under Trump, could lead to a messy situation between the two countries.
Moreover, the US is the largest export market for Pakistan at the moment, and any severing of ties with the US could hit Pakistan’s economy at a time when Pakistan is desperately trying to increase its exports to bridge the trade deficit. Among other agreements, India and US are making efforts to increase the trade volumes to unprecedented levels. “The goal of the first term of Trump Presidency is to enhance the tradefrom $100 billion a year to $300 billion a year and in that process, is a win-win for all sides,” added Kumar. Therefore, the authorities in Islamabad should tread carefully to avoid any controversy under current circumstances which could potentially benefit India in its efforts to isolate Pakistan internationally. http://dailytimes.com.pk/editorial/05-Jan-17/us-pak-relations-under-trump
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