In his first term in office, President Trump accused Pakistan of offering the United States “nothing but lies and deceit.” He tried later to cool tensions, but officials in Washington kept accusing the country’s leadership of being soft on terrorism.
Now, in Mr. Trump’s second term, U.S. military officials have deemed a counterterrorism partnership with Pakistan as “phenomenal.” In recent weeks, the leader of its powerful military had a private lunch with Mr. Trump at the White House. And the president promised lucrative deals in minerals and oil — even though Pakistani officials are not sure where the “massive reserves” Mr. Trump talked about might be.
But it is clear that Pakistan has landed in Washington’s good books again, the latest turn in a relationship that has ebbed and flowed for decades. And it finds itself in a better position than its archrival India, which had nurtured ties with Mr. Trump but now faces U.S. tariffs of 50 percent. Pakistan came away with 19 percent.
“There’s a sudden warmth in the relationship that nobody was expecting,” said Maleeha Lodhi, a former Pakistani ambassador to the United States and the United Nations.
That warmth relies in part on Pakistan giving Mr. Trump two quick wins early in his second term.
In March, it arrested a top Islamic State leader suspected of plotting a 2021 bombing in Kabul that killed more than 180 people, including 13 U.S. troops. The arrest earned Pakistan a mention in Mr. Trump’s address to Congress.
This spring, Pakistan said it would nominate Mr. Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize for his mediation in the latest conflict with India, even as New Delhi said Washington had played no role in a cease-fire.
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The post Pakistan Is in Trump’s Good Graces, but for How Long? appeared first on New York Times.
