The comment critiques Washington’s strategic tilt toward Pakistan. It argues that it undermines democracy, emboldens military dominance, and jeopardizes India–U.S. relations. It highlights Imran Khan’s imprisonment, selective tariffs, and counterterrorism hypocrisy as signs of U.S. miscalculation, warning that such actions erode trust and destabilize regional partnerships built over decades.
Central Arguments
- Washington’s recent praise for Pakistan’s military undermines democratic institutions and emboldens authoritarianism.
- Selective tariffs and strategic endorsements erode trust and threaten the Indo-US strategic partnership.
- US support for Pakistan’s military sidelines civilian leadership and deepens democratic decay.
- His arrest is framed as a consequence of opposing US influence and military dominance.
- India faces punitive tariffs while other nations with similar energy ties to Russia are spared.
- US praise for Pakistan’s counterterrorism efforts contradicts its own past experiences and India’s security concerns.
- Pakistan’s duplicity during the Afghanistan war and its sheltering of terrorists are overlooked by current US policy.
- Endorsing Pakistan is politically toxic and risks backlash that could destabilize bilateral ties.
- Using Pakistan as leverage against India is seen as a grave error with long-term consequences.
- US engagement with Pakistan’s military perpetuates authoritarianism and public disenchantment.
US praise for Pakistan’s military and selective tariffs on India risk undermining decades of trust and strategic partnership. Washington’s tilt emboldens Islamabad while complicating India–US relations and regional stability.
In a surprising and troubling move, US President Donald Trump has paused tariffs on China while continuing to impose them on India. What is even more shocking is the spectacle of Pakistan’s Army Chief issuing existential threats to India from US soil—a country that, until recently, considered India a “comprehensive global strategic partner” and described this relationship as the “defining partnership of the 21st century.” To witness such threats being tolerated, even facilitated, marks an unprecedented low in bilateral relations.
Strategic Amnesia: Washington’s Blind Spot in South Asia
Washington’s tilt toward Pakistan’s military is troubling. By backing General Asim Munir—an increasingly unpopular army chief with hardline Islamist leanings—the US is not only reinforcing Pakistan’s entrenched military dominance but also undermining and subverting whatever little democratic institutions the country still has. For India, this signals a more hostile neighbour led by a regime historically inclined toward confrontation, proxy warfare, and aggressive policies. For Pakistan, it deepens the cycle of military rule, shrinking the already narrow space for civilian governance and eroding public trust in democracy. History makes one thing clear: Pakistan’s alignment with Washington has rarely come without a cost, and democracy has often been the first casualty.
The treatment of former Prime Minister Imran Khan is a stark reminder of this duplicity. Arrested in May 2023—reportedly because he opposed US influence and the Pakistani military—Khan remains imprisoned despite widespread international concern. This selective engagement not only emboldens the military but also signals to Pakistan’s population that civilian leadership and democratic governance are expendable.
The latest tariff decision further exposes US miscalculations. While China—the largest buyer of Russian oil—faces no such punitive measures, and NATO partners like Japan and South Korea continue their energy dealings with Moscow without consequence, India is singled out with a 50% tariff. This reveals a selective and self-serving application of economic pressure. If Trump believes that playing the “Pakistan card” against India will yield negotiating leverage, he is miscalculating gravely. In India, public sentiment against Pakistan runs deep due to decades of cross-border terrorism. Endorsing Pakistan in any form is politically and strategically unacceptable to Indians.
Recently, US CENTCOM labelled Pakistan an “important partner” in counterterrorism efforts, with General Michael Kurilla on June 12, 2025, praising it as “a phenomenal partner in the counter-terrorism world.”  Shortly thereafter, at the US–Pakistan Counterterrorism Dialogue held on August 12, 2025, both countries issued a joint statement reaffirming their security commitments, declaring that “the United States applauded Pakistan’s continued successes in containing terrorist entities that pose a threat to the peace and security of the region and the world.” Then, on August 14, 2025, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio added, “The United States deeply appreciates Pakistan’s engagement on counterterrorism and trade.”  These repeated endorsements directly undermine India’s global campaign against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. It is deeply ironic: India, once seen as a vital partner in the Indo-Pacific, now finds its position repeatedly eroded by Washington’s actions.
Terrorism, alongside strategic concerns over China, was the primary factor that brought India and the US closer after 9/11. For years, India warned Washington about the dangers of cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan, but it took the tragedy of September 11—when the US experienced the horror firsthand—for America to truly grasp the threat. Cooperation deepened as both countries confronted the global menace together.
During the Afghanistan War, the US watched Pakistan play a double game—accepting billions in American aid while sheltering the very terrorists America was hunting. Osama bin Laden’s presence near a Pakistani military facility laid bare Islamabad’s duplicity. The US publicly acknowledged this when President Trump accused Pakistan of providing “safe havens to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan.” Former CIA Director Mike Pompeo once called Pakistan “the most dangerous country” because of its “duplicity” in the war on terror. Nikki Haley, then US Ambassador to the U.N., reinforced the warning: “Pakistan has played a double game for years… They work with us at times, and they also harbour the terrorists that attack our troops in Afghanistan.”
More recently, Indian parliamentarian and former UN diplomat Shashi Tharoor reminded the world of Dr. Shakeel Afridi—the Pakistani doctor who helped the US locate Bin Laden in Abbottabad, only to be jailed in Pakistan—calling it yet another stark example of Islamabad betraying the very partner it was taking aid from: “Pakistan is the country that not only sheltered terrorist mastermind Osama Bin Laden … but also punished the man who helped expose them.”
Yet, Washington now appears to have forgotten these lessons. Endorsing Pakistan’s counterterrorism efforts is more than misguided—it emboldens Islamabad, giving it strategic confidence to act more aggressively against India. This is not just a matter of perception; psychologically, such praise reinforces Pakistan’s belief that it can continue its policies without consequence.
India has suffered immensely from Pakistan-backed terrorism—from Pulwama to the recent Pahalgam attack, which claimed over 26 innocent lives. Every such endorsement from Washington chips away at Indian trust, damages the goodwill painstakingly built over decades, and undermines India’s confidence in the partnership.
Trump’s Tariffs: A Strategic Misstep in South Asia
Even if Trump views this as a tactical move in trade negotiations with New Delhi, he is striking at a raw nerve. The “Pakistan card” is toxic in Indian public opinion; using it risks a severe backlash that could erode the very foundation of India–US ties. Brookings Institution scholar Tanvi Madan has warned that this “Trumpist tilt toward Pakistan” risks undoing decades of trust and strategic alignment built by past administrations. Past US administrations invested heavily in this relationship, recognizing its strategic value. Those gains are now at risk of being squandered for short-term leverage.
It Is astonishing to see how quickly the US has chosen to overlook its own experience of being deceived by Pakistan in Afghanistan. Praise for Pakistan’s “counterterrorism” record is not only historically inaccurate—it sends exactly the wrong signal to Islamabad. By emboldening Pakistan, Washington is inadvertently making India’s security challenges more severe and jeopardizing one of its most important strategic partnerships in Asia.
For Pakistan, there is no reason to celebrate this US tactical outreach—it comes with a cost. History shows that US engagement with Pakistan’s military almost always undermines democracy. In most countries, elected civilian leaders represent the nation abroad; in Pakistan, it is the Army Chief who gets the red-carpet treatment. This dynamic erodes what little democratic space remains, deepening military dominance while sidelining civilian authority. For decades, Washington and its Western allies have preferred dealing with authoritarian regimes and military generals because they reliably serve Western strategic interests—often at the expense of their own people.
When the US invites Pakistan’s Army Chief to its dining table, it is not a gesture of respect—it is a transaction. It is the sellout of Pakistan’s sovereignty and the quiet murder of its democracy. The Pakistani military thrives on this cycle of dependence and corruption, sustained by Western indulgence. These moments of US–Pakistan warmth have never benefited the Pakistani people; they have borne the brunt of the US “war on terror” and the militarization it entrenched. Each time Washington offers strategic praise, it signals that some new compromise—or outright sellout—is just around the corner.
Many Pakistanis understand this game and resent it; their anger has been visible in protests abroad against military dominance, the jailing of Imran Khan, and the suffocation of democratic freedoms. As Henry Kissinger once observed, “To be America’s enemy may be dangerous, but to be its friend is fatal.” Pakistan’s military has learned to play this dangerous friendship to its own advantage—while its people, and the region, pay the price
If the US truly values its relationship with India, it must recognize that undermining India’s fight against terrorism is a red line. No tactical trade advantage is worth inflicting long-term damage on a partnership that is vital for both countries—and for stability in the Indo-Pacific.
Imran Khurshid, Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Kashmir, specializes in Indo-Pacific studies and South Asian security issues. He is an honorary Associate Research Scholar at ICPS. The views expressed here are his own.
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