Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister was in Washington. Following in the footsteps of Chief of ArmField Marshal Asim Munir, and though he had no encounter with President Trump, as did Field Marshal Munir at a White House lunch meeting on June 20, Mr Dar’s meetings included Secretary of State Mike Rubio. Field Marshal Munir himself was in Beijing at the same time, meeting with counterparts in the People’s Liberation Army, the Chinese Vice-President and the Foreign Minister. Pakistan has become interesting after the recent clash with India, and not just from the geopolitical point of view.
Mr Dar’s discussions with Mr Rubio centred around trade and investment, as well as relations with India. One of the main issues between the two countries has been that of tariffs imposed by the USA. That has been very worrisome for Pakistan, whose trade surplus with the USA is the only one it has with its major trade partners. It is thus very important for Pakistan. Reducing this surplus would be difficult, though such steps as buying US crude would leave its overall deficit unchanged, for the decrease in the surplus with the USA would be balanced by an increase in deficit with the countries it would otherwise have imported from. Mr Dar also said that a deal on minerals would be finalized soon, thereby indicating concretely that Pakistan expected US investment if the deficit was to be reduced. The two also discussed Pakistan-India relations, where it seems the USA is caught in something of a bind. It has tried over the course of some years to prop it up as a regional counterweight to China, but it has shown that it cannot take on Pakistan. It is scrabbling in the region not so much for a replacement, as to repair the many relationships it damaged in that search, such as with Pakistan.
Pakistan is at the moment successful in its balancing act, increasing its relations with the USA, but at the same time maintaining those with China. The engagement with Pakistan is part of the general US strategy to grow closer to China’s friends. Just as Pakistan is unwilling to make a choice, neither China nor the USA is trying to force Pakistan to do so, itself an indication that both see a walk back from the precipice. India is perplexed by this, so Pakistan should expect it to renew its attacks on it to get rid of its frustration.
