In the midst of the United States-Pakistan, two key challenges: Iran and China | Donald Trump News

Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan army chief, Marshal Asim Munnir, held a Tête-à-tête meeting President Donald Trump in the White House, where the two leaders spoke for more than two hours, according to the Pakistani army.

In a press release published Thursday by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistani army, Reunion, initially scheduled for an hour, took place in the cabinet room during lunch and then continued in the oval office.

After Wednesday’s meeting, the ISPR said, Munir expressed a “deep appreciation” for Trump’s efforts to facilitate a ceasefire between India and Pakistan after a four-day conflict in May between the two neighbors with nuclear arms. According to the ISPR, Trump praised Pakistan’s cooperation against “terrorism”.

While the White House did not publish any statement on the meeting, which was held behind closed doors and without opportunities for photos of the media, Trump briefly spoke to journalists after his interviews with Munnir. He thanked the army chief and said he was “honored to meet him”.

However, in the midst of the bonhomie and the promise of a strong increase in relations after years of tension between Washington and Islamabad, Trump also referred to the ongoing military conflict between Israel and Iran, that the American president said that his country could join.

The Pakistanis, said Trump, “know Iran very well, better than most”, adding that they are “not happy”.

For Pakistan, analysts said that this comment underlined how to reset links with the United States that Islamabad is desperately looking for by two key challenges. Iran and the current crisis with Israel will force Pakistan to a diplomatic balance, they said. And Islamabad’s close relations with China could also attract Pakistan to contradictory directions.

What did Trump and Munir talk about?

According to the ISPR, Munir spoke to Trump of the range of domains where the two nations could strengthen cooperation, in particular “economic development, mines and minerals, artificial intelligence, energy, cryptocurrency and emerging technologies”.

But the Pakistani army conceded that the two leaders also had “detailed discussions” on climbing tensions between Iran and Israel with Munir and Trump – according to Islamabad – highlighting the need for a peaceful resolution.

Munir was accompanied by the Pakistani advisor to national security, Lieutenant-General Asim Malik, who also heads the country’s first intelligence agency, the intelligence inter-service (ISI).

On the American side, Trump was joined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the president’s best negotiator in the Middle East, Steve Witkoff.

Marvin Weinbaum, a principal researcher at the Middle East Institute (MEI), said that the lack of media presence during lunch could be interpreted as suggesting that “the nature of the conversation was such that none of the parties wanted photos of photos”.

Weinbaum told Al Jazeera that none of the two parties probably wanted to reveal a lot about “what was discussed, although my reading was that it was perhaps the United States who wanted to know about the role of Pakistan on the following in Iran during this continuous situation”.

Later Wednesday evening, Munnir attended a dinner organized by the Pakistani Embassy with nearly three dozen Think Tanks personalities, political institutions and diplomatic circles. Al Jazeera spoke to several participants, who all asked for anonymity to discuss what Munir said at dinner.

A participant said that Mnir had not disclosed the details of his meeting with Trump, but he noticed that the conversation was “fantastic and could not go better”.

Munir added, according to this person, that Pakistan’s relations with the previous administration of President Joe Biden had been “among the worst” historically.

Another participant told Al Jazeera that Munir said that the United States “knew what it should do concerning Iran” and reiterated that Pakistan’s point of view is that “each conflict is resoluable by dialogue and diplomacy”.

“A significant increase”

For the moment, the experts said, the meeting represents a major gain for Pakistan in its attempt to improve links with the United States.

Pakistan was an ally of the United States since its participation in independence in 1947. They worked in close collaboration in Afghanistan after the Soviet invasion in 1979, then again after the American invasion of Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks.

While the United States has provided more than $ 30 billion aid in the past two decades in Pakistan, it has repeatedly accused Islamabad of “duplicity” and not to be a reliable security partner.

Pakistan, in turn, argued that Washington constantly demands it “do more” without fully recognizing the losses and the instability that Pakistan has suffered because of regional violence.

Elizabeth Threlkeld, director of the South Asian program at the Washington Stimson Center, DC, said that the visit of Mining marks a “significant increase” in American-Pakistani ties under the Trump administration.

“Given the central role of President Trump in the development of foreign policy and his preference for personal relations, this visit allowed the Marshal to consolidate a report created during the recent crisis,” she told Al Jazeera.

Sahar Khan, an expert in security policy based in Washington, DC, said that even if the meeting was important, that does not mean that the two countries are “now friends”. However, this indicates a “thaw in the relationship”.

She added that although Trump is unpredictable, Pakistan should consider concluding an agreement with him to prevent unrealistic requests concerning regional issues.

“For the moment, the message to have the Trump administration is, take the time to understand Pakistan and stop seeing it through the objective of India, China or Afghanistan,” she said.

However, making this stick stick, however, will not be easy, said analysts.

China, the real strategic dilemma

China remains the most critical partner in Pakistan, with whom it enjoys economic, strategic and deep military ties. But simultaneously, in the past three decades, the rise of Beijing as a global superpower has made it the main rival of Washington.

Muhammad Faisal, a security researcher in South Asia at Sydney University of Technology, said that the management of links with the two powers will test Islamabad’s commitment to a “camp without camp” policy.

China has invested $ 62 billion in the Chine-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a large infrastructure project connecting Western China to the Oman Sea via Pakistan.

On the military front, Pakistan provides more than 80% of its weapons from China, and some of these products, in particular Chinese jets and missiles, presented their value in the recent conflict with India.

“In the long term, (China and the United States) are crucial for full Pakistan,” Faisal told Al Jazeera. And while the United States and China could each want Islamabad on its side, the fact that Pakistan is sought by both has its own advantage.

This “gives Islamabad a considerable diplomatic space to extend cooperation with Beijing and Washington,” he said.

The Iranian challenge

Iran, currently under an intense Israeli assault which has targeted key infrastructure and upper military and nuclear personalities, presents another sensitive challenge in Pakistan.

Analysts argued that the proximity of Pakistan and the links with Tehran position it as a potential mediator between the United States and Iran.

“It is in the interest of Pakistan to play a mediation role. He cannot afford another opponent at his western border, given his internal challenges,” said Khan.

Last month, Munnir went to Iran with the Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. During the visit, he met Major-General Mohammad Bagheri, Chief of the General Staff of the Iranian Army. Friday, in the first wave of strikes by Israel, Bagheri was one of the many military officials who were killed.

Since the start of Israeli strikes, Pakistan has strongly defended Iran’s right to self -defense, describing Israeli strikes as violations of Iran’s territorial sovereignty and calling them “blatant provocations”.

Hosting nearly 250 million people, Pakistan has a large Shiite minority – between 15% and 20% of the population – which turn to Iran for religious leadership.

Faisal noted that these demographic and geographic realities would limit Pakistan’s public support to any American military intervention.

“Islamabad can continue to call for diplomacy and the cessation of hostilities to contain the conflict. As a neighbor, instability in Iran is not in the interest of Pakistan,” he said.

At the same time, Faisal added: “A peak in sectarian tensions (in Pakistan) can test internal security. Thus, Islamabad will be wary of the pro-American public posture. ”