Trump's Lunch with Pakistan Army Chief Munir: India is Unhappy

The unprecedented meeting between President Trump and the Chief of the Pakistani Army, General Asim Munir, who has now been promoted to the rank of Field Marshal, indicates that the United States is favoring military leadership in Islamabad rather than civilian leadership, and may further strain U.S.-India relations amid rising regional tensions.

In international diplomacy, etiquette is never accidental but deliberate. It reflects power, achievements, and hierarchies. Therefore, it is no small matter that Donald Trump, a politician who has always been poor at maneuvering or governance, chose to have lunch with General Asim Munir, the Chief of the Pakistani Army, who has now been promoted to the rank of Field Marshal.

This is a carefully planned violation of etiquette, revealing deeper realities of Pakistan's "hybrid regime." Trump, a politician who despises complexity, granted legitimacy to the Pakistani military and its leader simply by having lunch in the White House.

For India, any action by the United States to re-use the term "India-Pakistan" (a Cold War perspective that viewed the two countries as strategically equal) is an insult to India's vision of its growing regional and global role. India has allied with the United States in the Indo-Pacific region, primarily to counter China's strength, and this alliance is based on breaking this equality. Trump's transactional diplomacy has revived a dangerous symmetry in South Asia by fabricating this equality.

Over the past 35 years, India has been engaged in a long-term strategic game, building close relationships with the United States during each presidency. In the last decade, India-U.S. relations have become closer due to the need to balance the rise of China's military and economic power.

For the United States, China's rise poses a challenge to its hegemony; for India, it means being strategically surrounded within its geographical sphere of influence.

Encouraged by Washington's approval, the support of neighboring countries, and economic gestures, the Pakistani military has become bolder and more likely to take aggressive actions against India. The wrong signals from Washington could lead to disastrous miscalculations in Rawalpindi. In the past, when the Pakistani military was confident about its relationship with the United States, such situations often occurred when they sought to take risks along the Indian border.

However, setting aside reasonable concerns, India must resist the temptation to return to its "foolproof" and instinctive non-alignment or hedging policy, as it is not in its long-term interest.

Instead, India should adopt a pragmatic long-term strategy, focusing on economic development, military modernization, maintaining political and social cohesion, and strengthening relations with the United States and other partners in the global north and south. The next thirty years are crucial for India's future development, and India needs to focus on this rather than be distracted by any provocations from China or Pakistan.

Source: The National Interest

Author: Aparna Pande and Vinay Kaura

Aparna Pande is the Director of the India and South Asia Futures Initiative at the Hudson Institute.

Vinay Kaura is an Assistant Professor in the Department of International Affairs and Security Studies at the Sardar Patel University of Police, Security and Criminal Justice.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1836851249896455/

Statement: The article represents the views of the author(s) alone.