Could US midterms reshape Pakistan’s relationship with Washington?
Pakistan has gained diplomatic visibility under Trump, but analysts question how much the relationship has delivered.
Islamabad, Pakistan – Addressing a mixed crowd of the diaspora and policy experts in New York late in September, Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar was asked about challenges in New Delhi’s relationship with the United States under President Donald Trump.
“Well, I think if I stand back and look at the relationship … I note that much of the world has had a more difficult relationship with the US,” Jaishankar responded.
Trump’s tumultuous second term has seen him rock the global economy with tariffs and the Iran war, upend decades of trust with traditional US allies, and attempt to shred international law and the institutions that govern it. From Europe to the Middle East to East Asia, allies that counted on a US security umbrella are scrambling to build alternative partnerships, unable to rely on Washington for help if they are attacked. Leaders of nations that have been staunch US supporters have instead found themselves targeted – often personally – by Trump.
Imran Khan, a geopolitical analyst and former Pakistan country director at the United States Institute of Peace, said Islamabad’s closeness to Trump had significantly raised its diplomatic profile.