Rama Krishna Sangem
India may not like this. But, Pakistan’s Field Marshal General Syed Asim Munir is invited to the guest at prestigious American army’s 250th anniversary and President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday, to be celebrated in Washington DC on June 14, Saturday. We in India are greatly disappointed with this invitation to Munir for reasons, more than one.
I will discuss here only two or three main reasons. One, President Trump sees Pakistan still an ally in war against terror, at a time when India has been alleging that the country is hub of terrorists. Two, Pakistan will continue to get military aid from the US, though the former is maintaining close ties with China.
Third and painful reason is that Munir will be present on the 250th anniversary of the US army and Trump’s 79th birthday, even after a parliamentary delegation led by Shashi Tharoor visited the country only recently and exposed Pakistan\s patronage of cross-border terrorism. Have all our efforts gone in vain? This is our worry.
What’s Munir’s Agenda?
The agenda of Munir’s visit is to seek Washington’s security cooperation against Islamic State – Khorasan Province (ISKP)– a branch of the terror group Islamic State (IS) active in Central and South Asia, including Pakistan, according to sources.
Pakistan also wants the United States to push India to the dialogue table, especially on the issue of resumption of the Indus Waters Treaty, which was suspended by New Delhi in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam massacre in which Islamabad-backed terrorists gunned down 26 people, mostly tourists.
Munir will also try to woo Trump in favour of its proposed zero-tariff bilateral trade agreement with the United States, and seek investment in minerals and agriculture through the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), sources added.
Pak Delegation to hold trade talks with US s
Munir’s visit to the US is likely to coincide with the tour of a senior trade delegation from Pakistan to Washington this week for talks with US officials on the recently imposed American tariffs and related economic issues. The three-day visit will be the latest in a series of high-level exchanges between Islamabad and Washington amid a fragile regional security climate following last month’s military conflict with India, according to a report by Dawn.
The delegation will be led by Commerce Secretary Jawad Paul and includes senior Federal Board of Revenue officials and representatives of the energy and information technology sectors. They will hold meetings with their US counterparts at the Office of the United States Trade Representative, focusing on trade imbalances, tariff adjustments, and sectoral cooperation, the Dawn report said.
Interestingly, PM Modi will meet Trump a day later – June 15-17 – in Canada for G-7 summit. Will Modi be able to cut ice with Trump and restore India-US momentum? Can Modi secure an assurance from Trump that India is an important ally to the US, more so to the West in restoring security in Asia Pacific region? We need to wait and watch.
