Trump, India, And Pakistan

Ambika Gupta analyses the contours of US-Pakistan relationship and where exactly President Trump’s offer to provide his good offices to mediate on Kashmir fit in

- Ambika Gupta

Donald Trump’s election was greeted with enthusiasm in India because he was seen as the American version of Narendra Modi—a man who was strong, put his country first, and was going to be “tough on countries sheltering and promoting Islamic fundamentalism”. Trump, like Modi, was going to shake things up in the international system and, more importantly, be “pro-India”. After all, Trump had said that he loved Hindus (he probably did not realise that India had more than one religion) and more importantly upon getting elected took a tough stand against Pakistan for its support to terrorism by cutting off economic assistance to Islamabad.

Yet now, it seems that the pendulum is swinging in the other direction because the United States needs Pakistan to secure a peace deal with the Taliban and, worse, Trump is offering from time to time to mediate between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue. The latter was particularly troubling to New Delhi since the Obama Administration had wanted to name Richard Holbrooke as its special envoy to resolve the Af-Pak-Kashmir issues. New Delhi was able to successfully prevail and get Kashmir removed from the agenda. But now the issue is back and the question arises, where does Trump stand on the relationship with India?

The Trump Foreign Policy: