‘Trump’s renewed interest in Pakistan has India recalibrating China ties’

This is apropos a news item “Trump’s renewed interest in Pakistan has India recalibrating China ties” carried by this newspaper recently.

According to it, US President Donald Trump’s luncheon meeting with Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir at the White House has prompted “a private diplomatic protest from India”. Quoting analysts and officials, the news item has also claimed that the ‘’protest’’ from New Delhi has warned Washington about “risks to their bilateral ties”. The same news item has also claimed that India is “recalibrating relations with China as a hedge”.

Seen from a geo-strategic prism, this item, no doubt, is highly important because of a variety of reasons. It is a fact that US-India ties have strengthened in the past two decades or since Narendra Modi came to power in 2014 because both countries seek to counter China.

In my view, the situation, in fact, indicates India’s policy failures on so many fronts. One of these is the growing realization in the White House that India cannot be viewed or trusted as a competent or strong player in the security competition in the region. After boasting that it can play the role of a bulwark against China, India has been forced by a situation after its defeat in the four-day conflict against Pakistan in May to eat the humble pie.

Saleem Bukhari (Karachi)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025