Trump’s attack on Pakistan: Is it really a win for PM Modi’s ‘hugplomacy’?

As the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders credit Modi government’s foreign policy for Donald Trump’s threat of cutting aid to Pakistan, observers highlight that there is not much for India to rejoice in US President’s scathing criticism of Islamabad’s support for terrorism.

“We should know that America’s prime focus is on the Haqqani Network and other terrorist groups that are working against the American forces in Afghanistan. We should also bear in mind that America will do what suits their interests,” India’s former High Commissioner to Pakistan, Sharat Sabharwal, told National Herald.

“The battle against terrorism is our own battle. Nobody is going to pull our chestnuts out of fire,” the former diplomat added.

US President Donald Trump had castigated Pakistan in a hard-hitting tweet on Monday, as he questioned Islamabad’s support for terrorist networks that the American forces had been fighting in Afghanistan.

“It (Donald Trump’s statement) has nothing to do with India,” Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari told NH.

“Why are these guys running like headless chickens and trying to catch their tails,” Tewari reacted to statements by the BJP leaders which attributed Trump’s remarks on Pakistan to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s effective foreign policy.

“In fact, they should be extremely upset that Trump didn’t refer to Pakistan’s export of terror to India in the same breath,” Tewari added.

BJP spokespersons Gaurav Bhatia and GVL Narasimha Rao had tweeted:

Former foreign secretary Salman Haidar noted that Trump hadn’t said a ‘word on India’ in his tweet.

“While Mr Trump has been extremely forthright, he hasn’t said anything about India. He hasn’t said this in the Indian context,” Haidar told NH.

“The words were directed at Pakistan and Trump’s lack of willingness to accept Pakistan’s protestations is not hinged on the relationship between USA and India,” he added.

Difficult to isolate Pakistan internationally

Despite Trump’s latest attack over Pakistan’s covert support for terrorist groups, Haidar believes it will be difficult to ostracise Pakistan on the global stage, a foreign policy idea being championed by the Modi government.

“It (stopping of American aid to Pakistan) may not have the desired impact as Pakistan has other friends which it could look upto,” the former foreign secretary said.

“Cutting off US aid to Pakistan doesn’t mean that the country will be brought to its knees. What the statement does is that it puts Pakistan on the spot,” he added.

Former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan, Sabharwal, said, “Pakistan is growing closer to China and their equation with Russia is changing as well. So, isolating Pakistan on the international stage may not happen as India would like it to.”

He noted that most of Pakistan’s defence imports were being sourced from China in recent years, so Trump’s threat of cutting aid won’t have much impact on Islamabad’s purchase of arms and ammunition.

“The problem is on the financial front. The Pakistani state has limited sources of external revenue,” he said.

“The question as to till what extent are the Chinese willing to take on that role is still open. Till they take on that role, the Americans being unhappy with Pakistan is troubling for Islamabad,” Sabharwal added.

Trump’s statement significant nevertheless

“Finally, you have a President in the US who is willing to call spade a spade, who’s willing to put his money where his mouth is,” said Manish Tewari from Congress, adding that Americans seemed to have come to a realisation that “Pakistan had been taking their money and running circles around them.”

Sabharwal remarked that President Trump’s strong words against Pakistan were a significant development.

“It is important that the words are coming from the President rather than people in the administration, as has been done in the past,” he said.

Haidar said that Trump's statement may well mark an ominous milestone in America-Pakistan relations.

“The statement makes it very clear that Pakistani evasions on the matter and the way it has been dealing with terrorism has been exposed and no longer acceptable,” he said.

Haidar, who has done a stint in Afghanistan, said that the current American administration’s critical view of Pakistan could severely damage bilateral relations. “It does mean that relations between Pakistan and USA will be severely damaged.”