Text by Sanxuan

During the opportunity to attend the United Nations General Assembly, Pakistani Prime Minister Sharif visited the White House and met with Trump, which was their first formal meeting since Trump took office.

Sharif wasn't alone; he also brought Pakistan's Army Chief General Musharraf. This general has a significant background; he was quickly promoted to Chief of Army Staff after the India-Pakistan air war. Including this time, it is already the third time in the past three months that he has visited the White House.

It is worth noting that the meeting of the three people was not made public, and there was no joint press conference afterwards. During the 80-minute conversation, no one knew what they discussed, and only a statement from the Pakistani side was released, emphasizing an air of mystery.

In the statement, Sharif praised Trump extensively, saying that he played a significant role in the India-Pakistan conflict, achieving peace in South Asia, and thanked him for the tariff arrangements for Pakistan, and invited him to visit Pakistan again.

From the photos released by the Pakistani side, the atmosphere of the meeting was very friendly, with Trump smiling and raising his thumb happily.

This has really angered Indian media, knowing that India and the United States are currently having problems, and Pakistan is "showing affection" at this time, clearly to show off to India.

Indian media sarcastically commented, "America has changed," saying that although Trump had always linked Pakistan with terrorism, now he is having a warm conversation with the Pakistani Prime Minister, which is the biggest change in America since 1971.

This is not entirely without reason. Compared to the U.S.-India relationship, the United States and Pakistan have many contradictions, such as Pakistan's nuclear weapons and its relationship with China.

Now, Trump suddenly showing friendliness towards Pakistan is likely because the U.S.-India relationship has problems. We won't go into details about the U.S.-India issues. Although Trump recently sent birthday wishes to Modi, it is not enough to mend the rift, and the U.S.-India tariff negotiations have not made much progress.

Looking at Pakistan, since the India-Pakistan air war, Trump's attitude toward Pakistan has become increasingly warm. Perhaps he is looking for a replacement partner in South Asia, or simply because Pakistan is willing to cooperate with Trump, exaggerating his contribution to the India-Pakistan ceasefire, and the U.S.-Pakistan relationship is seeing improvement.

For Pakistan, improving relations with the United States also brings great benefits, which can not only curb India's arrogance but also provide more opportunities for cooperation with the United States. A U.S. official revealed that they are very interested in Pakistan's minerals and oil and hope to increase cooperation.

However, there are also many obstacles to U.S.-Pakistan cooperation. Take oil exploration, for example. The Balochistan province of Pakistan has the most oil, but the environment there is really terrible, not only lacking infrastructure but also being particularly dangerous. The "terrorists" mentioned by Trump have done a lot of destruction, and the investment risk is not small.

More importantly, in Trump's view, there is no concept of win-win cooperation. If U.S.-Pakistan relations continue to deepen, he will definitely force Pakistan to choose sides between China and the United States, just like his dissatisfaction with India, because India did not want to listen to him and give up buying Russian oil.

In this case, how to maintain balance between China and the United States is also a problem for Pakistan to consider. If they are not careful, they may end up not pleasing either side. What is more important, Pakistan must carefully weigh.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7554677078252110376/

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