<p>The recent visits by Pakistan’s top military leadership to the United States – first by Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, followed closely by Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar Sidhu – have introduced a new and unexpected dimension to South Asian geopolitics. </p><p>These engagements have sparked widespread speculation about a possible recalibration of the US-Pakistan relationship, particularly as the visits were not ceremonial but substantive, involving high-level discussions across the Pentagon, Capitol Hill, and the State Department. For India, this development merits scrutiny, as it could carry far-reaching implications for regional security and strategic alignments.</p>.<p>Munir’s lunch with President Donald Trump marked the first time a serving Pakistani army chief without political power was hosted at such a level in Washington. That Sidhu’s visit followed soon underscores a coordinated effort by Pakistan’s military establishment to revive its old ties with Washington, just as India-Pakistan tensions escalate following the Pahalgam terror attack. The pattern suggests more than diplomatic routine – it indicates a deliberate campaign by Islamabad to reassert its relevance in US strategic thinking.</p>.<p>One of the key drivers behind this effort is Pakistan’s growing frustration with the performance of Chinese-supplied defence systems – their critical vulnerabilities were exposed during India’s Operation Sindoor. This experience has spurred Islamabad to seek Western military technology and support, and to lobby for advanced US weaponry, including F-16 Block 70 fighter jets, AIM-7 Sparrow missiles, HIMARS rocket systems, and modern air defence platforms. </p><p>Sidhu’s meetings in Washington involved discussions on joint operational training, technology sharing, and expanded defence cooperation. While on the surface the outreach appears tactical, it is underpinned by deeper strategic logic on both sides.</p>.<p>The US has often engaged with Pakistan transactionally, reviving ties when operational constraints demand it. This pattern held during the Cold War, post-9/11 counterterrorism campaigns, and during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. Now, as tensions escalate with Iran, Washington may be looking again to Pakistan – not only for its proximity to critical theatres, but for logistical support, regional intelligence, and airspace access.</p>.<p>For India, this emerging closeness between Washington and Islamabad presents several challenges. First, it risks diluting the special strategic partnership it has cultivated with the US over the past two decades. Hosting Pakistan’s military chiefs around the same time as India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s Washington visit generates dissonant optics and raises uncomfortable questions about the US commitment to its South Asia priorities.</p>.<p>Second, a resurgent Pakistan, empowered with new military platforms and emboldened by perceived US endorsement, could become more aggressive in Kashmir or along the Line of Control. </p><p>Third, the re-engagement risks legitimising Pakistan’s well-worn strategy of diplomatic duplicity – maintaining close ties with both the US and China while extracting military and economic concessions from both. While Pakistan projects a narrative of stability and counterterror cooperation in Washington, its deep state continues to support militant groups that destabilise the region.</p>.<p>Compounding this is Trump’s controversial claim, which India denied, that <br>he brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam attack, using trade incentives and diplomatic leverage. Any revival of the external intervention rhetoric on Kashmir is bound to be met with stiff resistance from India, both politically and diplomatically.</p>.<p><strong>Transactional ties</strong></p>.<p>The current US outreach to Pakistan must also be viewed in the broader context of regional power plays involving Iran. With a possible confrontation looming between the US-Israel axis and Tehran, Washington may be seeking Islamabad’s cooperation or at least its neutrality to manage backlash in the Muslim world. In this sense, the South Asian pivot is not just about India or Pakistan, but also about the strategic theatre of West Asia.</p>.<p>Seen through this lens, Trump’s embrace of Pakistan is not sentimental, but grounded in hard geopolitical calculus. It reflects a long-standing US tradition of engaging Pakistan when expedient, even if it risks undermining deeper, more values-based partnerships with India. The US has often treated South Asia not as an end in itself, but as a means to achieve broader objectives in other regions – whether in Afghanistan, Iran, or beyond.</p>.<p>India must take note. New Delhi should step up its diplomatic outreach in Washington, reaffirming its role as a reliable, rules-based, and capable partner in the Indo-Pacific. At the same time, it must be prepared for a more competitive neighbourhood, where an emboldened Pakistan, potentially backed by both Beijing and Washington, reasserts itself militarily and politically. The current developments underscore that in South Asia, old patterns in global power <br>politics often resurface when least expected. India would do well to prepare for this strategic turn with clarity, caution, and resolve.</p>.<p><em>(The writer is an associate fellow at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses)</em></p>
<p>The recent visits by Pakistan’s top military leadership to the United States – first by Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, followed closely by Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar Sidhu – have introduced a new and unexpected dimension to South Asian geopolitics. </p><p>These engagements have sparked widespread speculation about a possible recalibration of the US-Pakistan relationship, particularly as the visits were not ceremonial but substantive, involving high-level discussions across the Pentagon, Capitol Hill, and the State Department. For India, this development merits scrutiny, as it could carry far-reaching implications for regional security and strategic alignments.</p>.<p>Munir’s lunch with President Donald Trump marked the first time a serving Pakistani army chief without political power was hosted at such a level in Washington. That Sidhu’s visit followed soon underscores a coordinated effort by Pakistan’s military establishment to revive its old ties with Washington, just as India-Pakistan tensions escalate following the Pahalgam terror attack. The pattern suggests more than diplomatic routine – it indicates a deliberate campaign by Islamabad to reassert its relevance in US strategic thinking.</p>.<p>One of the key drivers behind this effort is Pakistan’s growing frustration with the performance of Chinese-supplied defence systems – their critical vulnerabilities were exposed during India’s Operation Sindoor. This experience has spurred Islamabad to seek Western military technology and support, and to lobby for advanced US weaponry, including F-16 Block 70 fighter jets, AIM-7 Sparrow missiles, HIMARS rocket systems, and modern air defence platforms. </p><p>Sidhu’s meetings in Washington involved discussions on joint operational training, technology sharing, and expanded defence cooperation. While on the surface the outreach appears tactical, it is underpinned by deeper strategic logic on both sides.</p>.<p>The US has often engaged with Pakistan transactionally, reviving ties when operational constraints demand it. This pattern held during the Cold War, post-9/11 counterterrorism campaigns, and during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. Now, as tensions escalate with Iran, Washington may be looking again to Pakistan – not only for its proximity to critical theatres, but for logistical support, regional intelligence, and airspace access.</p>.<p>For India, this emerging closeness between Washington and Islamabad presents several challenges. First, it risks diluting the special strategic partnership it has cultivated with the US over the past two decades. Hosting Pakistan’s military chiefs around the same time as India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s Washington visit generates dissonant optics and raises uncomfortable questions about the US commitment to its South Asia priorities.</p>.<p>Second, a resurgent Pakistan, empowered with new military platforms and emboldened by perceived US endorsement, could become more aggressive in Kashmir or along the Line of Control. </p><p>Third, the re-engagement risks legitimising Pakistan’s well-worn strategy of diplomatic duplicity – maintaining close ties with both the US and China while extracting military and economic concessions from both. While Pakistan projects a narrative of stability and counterterror cooperation in Washington, its deep state continues to support militant groups that destabilise the region.</p>.<p>Compounding this is Trump’s controversial claim, which India denied, that <br>he brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam attack, using trade incentives and diplomatic leverage. Any revival of the external intervention rhetoric on Kashmir is bound to be met with stiff resistance from India, both politically and diplomatically.</p>.<p><strong>Transactional ties</strong></p>.<p>The current US outreach to Pakistan must also be viewed in the broader context of regional power plays involving Iran. With a possible confrontation looming between the US-Israel axis and Tehran, Washington may be seeking Islamabad’s cooperation or at least its neutrality to manage backlash in the Muslim world. In this sense, the South Asian pivot is not just about India or Pakistan, but also about the strategic theatre of West Asia.</p>.<p>Seen through this lens, Trump’s embrace of Pakistan is not sentimental, but grounded in hard geopolitical calculus. It reflects a long-standing US tradition of engaging Pakistan when expedient, even if it risks undermining deeper, more values-based partnerships with India. The US has often treated South Asia not as an end in itself, but as a means to achieve broader objectives in other regions – whether in Afghanistan, Iran, or beyond.</p>.<p>India must take note. New Delhi should step up its diplomatic outreach in Washington, reaffirming its role as a reliable, rules-based, and capable partner in the Indo-Pacific. At the same time, it must be prepared for a more competitive neighbourhood, where an emboldened Pakistan, potentially backed by both Beijing and Washington, reasserts itself militarily and politically. The current developments underscore that in South Asia, old patterns in global power <br>politics often resurface when least expected. India would do well to prepare for this strategic turn with clarity, caution, and resolve.</p>.<p><em>(The writer is an associate fellow at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses)</em></p>
