Pakistan now realizes the perils of dealing with mercurial President Trump

Critics of the Modi government within and outside India have been taking potshots at his foreign policy and having their schadenfreude moment after the US used Pakistan as a mediator in the Iran-US-Israel war. The Indian opposition was also smirking at how Pakistan had taken the center stage by holding the preliminary negotiations in Islamabad on April 11-12.

But Field Marshal Asim Munir and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif have now realized the perils of dealing with mercurial US President as Pakistan and its supporters were all left high and dry as Donald Trump signed the interim peace deal at a glitzy dinner in Versailles on June 17 and dumped formal signing ceremony on June 19 at Switzerland.

Even the peace MoU was signed secretly and digitally between US and Iranian leadership with Pakistan being kept in pitch dark. In fact, PM Sharif and FM Munir had all packed up their suitcases for Switzerland but President Trump left them acutely embarrassed by signing the deal before French President Emmanuel Macron at the historic palace. This was not all.

The same day, much to the chagrin of PM Modi’s detractors and Pakistan supporters, President Trump went way out of his way to praise PM Modi and went so far to say that the US would come to aid if it were attacked in future. He also said that it was for India to decide whether it wanted to play a role in Middle-East peace as India was a global player. Even though India takes President Trump’s remarks with a pinch of salt, the events on June 17 were a tight slap on the face of Sharif who had to cancel his visit to Switzerland and generally praise the interim peace deal sitting in his office in Islamabad. The interim deal will now be called Versailles agreement rather than Islamabad declaration as Shehbaz Sharif would have hoped for along with Trump’s favorite Field Marshal Munir. America’s second mediator with Iran, Qatar, played it safe and remained behind the scenes unlike bombastic Pakistan and its supporters.

While President Trump signaled business as usual with India at the bilateral meeting in Evian, the demeanor of the Indian Prime Minister at the G-7 was polite and respectful but definitely not obsequious with the big batters at the summit. In fact, PM Modi was toasted by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, EU President Ursula von der Leyen, UAE President M. B. Zayed, UK PM Keir Starmer, Italian PM Giorgia Meloni apart from the red carpet treatment from his friend Emmanuel Macron. PM Modi met Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi on the sidelines of G-7 but the Japanese leader is expected to visit India soon.

India and the US are on the same page when it comes to the Iran nuclear issue and freedom of navigation in the Straits of Hormuz, and PM Modi praised Trump for securing a peace deal with Iran and preventing a full blown energy crisis. Even as India and the US are looking to sign a trade deal as early as possible, India has learnt to deal with President Trump—one day at a time. Something which the Pakistanis will now understand.