SINCE the four-day devastating skirmish between India and Pakistan in May 2025, Pakistan’s image in the comity of nations has been on a positive trajectory.
The recognition of Pakistan as a key strategic player in regional and international affairs, a status that was highlighted during the last week, underscores the country’s growing influence. President Trump’s hosting of Prime Minister Shahbaz in the Oval Office and the positive reception of his speech at the United Nations General Assembly further validate this. Indeed, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House is expected to have a decisive impact on global geopolitics.
Undoubtedly, the Pakistan-United States relationship, which has experienced its fair share of ups and downs over the past seven decades, is currently at a critical juncture. The withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan has significantly strained the relationship. During the previous Biden administration, a deterioration in cooperation between Islamabad and Washington was witnessed, leading to sanctions on Pakistan’s missile program, despite its substantial support for India’s military modernization.
President Trump’s shift in US foreign and strategic policy has once again enhanced Pakistan’s relevance in Washington’s strategic calculus. The positive role of President Trump in promulgating a ceasefire at the peak of the escalating May skirmish and offering to mediate in resolving India and Pakistan’s chronic Kashmir dispute was well-received in Pakistan. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s refusal to accept President Trump’s mediation offer had spoiled the opportunity to establish lasting peace in South Asia.
Prime Minister Shehbaz’s brief exchange of pleasantries with President Trump at the United Nations General Assembly, following their first formal meeting on September 26, 2025, underscored the significant positive transformation in bilateral relations between Pakistan and the United States. Prime Minister Shehbaz was also accompanied by Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir at White House, who had also held a meeting with President Trump on June 18, 2025.
Of course, the meeting was a step forward in improving ties between Islamabad and Washington. The current cascade of positive development began in March 2025, when President Trump praised Pakistan’s cooperation in arresting Sharifullah, a top-tier operational commander of the militant IS-KP chapter, who was responsible for killing 13 US service members and approximately 170 Afghan civilians at Hamid Karzai International Airport’s Abbey Gate on August 26, 2021.
Presently, the Pakistani ruling elite has described President Trump as a “man of peace” and stressed the need to enhance cooperation in security and intelligence between Pakistan and the United States. On September 26, 2025, while addressing the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Prime Minister Shehbaz said, “President Trump’s efforts for peace helped avert a … war in South Asia. Had he not intervened timely and decisively, the consequences of a full-fledged war would have been catastrophic.” He added, “Therefore, in recognition of President Trump’s wonderful and outstanding contribution to promote peace in our part of the world, Pakistan nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize. This is the least we could do … I think he truly is a man of peace.”
Interestingly, many analysts have expressed their serious reservations about Pakistan’s nomination of Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. But they failed to realize that he saved South Asia from nuclear Armageddon. Similarly, Modi and his cohorts seem ungrateful for Trump’s saving them from further humiliation in India-Pakistan’s May 2025 devastating conflict.
The Trump Administration’s recognition of Pakistan’s military, minerals and natural resources is a significant development. The Administration is actively encouraging American investors to explore opportunities in Pakistan’s mineral and petroleum sectors. The recent announcement of a $500 million investment in Pakistan’s critical minerals sector on September 8, 2025, is a testament to this. The interest of American companies in Pakistan’s mining and mineral sector is a promising sign of the expanding bilateral cooperation between Pakistan and the US in various sectors, and it bodes well for Pakistan’s economic growth.
The warming cordiality between Islamabad and Washington is advantageous for Pakistan, provided the formal intelligence satisfies Beijing in the rapidly evolving global strategic environment and the increasing China-US strategic competition in international politics. This warming relationship could potentially shift the balance of power in the region, impacting the dynamics of the China-US strategic competition and influencing the geopolitical landscape of international politics.
—The writer is Prof at the School of Politics and IR, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad.
