Critics of the Modi government inside and outside India have been criticizing his foreign policy and feeling a moment of schadenfreude after the US used Pakistan as a mediator in the war between Iran, the US and Israel. The Indian opposition was also smiling at how Pakistan took center stage by holding preliminary negotiations in Islamabad from April 11-12.
But Field Marshal Asim Munir and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif have now realized the risks of dealing with the mercurial US president. Pakistan and its supporters were left in the lurch when Donald Trump signed the interim peace deal at a lavish dinner in Versailles on June 17 and canceled the official signing ceremony on June 19 in Switzerland.
Even the Memorandum of Understanding for peace was signed secretly and digitally between the US and Iranian leadership keeping Pakistan in complete darkness. In fact, Prime Minister Sherif and Foreign Minister Mounir had packed their bags for Switzerland, but President Trump left them extremely embarrassed by signing the deal in front of French President Emmanuel Macron at the historic palace. That wasn’t all.
On the same day, to the dismay of Prime Minister Modi’s critics and Pakistan’s supporters, President Trump went so far as to praise Prime Minister Modi and went so far as to say that the United States would come to help if attacked in the future. He also said that it is India that decides whether it wants to play a role in peace in the Middle East because India is a global player. Although India takes President Trump’s statements with some caution, the events of June 17 were a strong slap in the face for Sharif, who was forced to cancel his visit to Switzerland and generally praise the interim peace agreement as he sat in his office in Islamabad. The interim agreement will now be called the Versailles Agreement instead of the Islamabad Declaration as Shahbaz Sharif and Trump’s favorite Field Marshal Mounir had hoped. The second American mediator with Iran, Qatar, acted in a safe manner and remained behind the scenes, unlike the vaunted Pakistan and its supporters.
While President Trump signaled that it was business as usual with India at the bilateral meeting in Evian, the Indian Prime Minister’s behavior at the G7 was polite and respectful, but certainly not subservient to the high rollers at the summit. In fact, PM Modi received toasts from Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, EU President Ursula von der Leyen, UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, apart from red carpet treatment from his friend Emmanuel Macron. Prime Minister Modi met Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaishi on the sidelines of the G7 summit, but the Japanese leader is expected to visit India soon.
India and the US are on the same page when it comes to the Iranian nuclear issue and freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, and Prime Minister Modi has praised Trump for securing a peace deal with Iran and preventing a full-blown energy crisis. Even as India and the US look to sign a trade deal as soon as possible, India has learned how to deal with President Trump – day by day. This is something Pakistanis will understand now.
