Diplomatic Narcissism

When Donald Trump extends a hand of friendship, it is often to the world’s most unsavoury actors. His latest overture - a cosy lunch with Pakistan’s Army Chief Asim Munir in the White House Cabinet Room reveals the full absurdity of Trumpian diplomacy. This spectacle comes just after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sharply rebuffed Trump’s delusional claim of ‘mediating’ the recent conflict with Pakistan that was triggered after terrorists sponsored by the latter slaughtered Indian tourists at Pahalgam, promoting the government to launch Operation Sindoor.

Trump’s meeting with Munir is not just diplomatically reckless but morally bankrupt, with the latter flattering the US president’s already outsize ego by saying he ought to be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

In a phone call initiated by Trump, Modi reminded him, firmly and publicly, that India has never accepted third-party mediation over the recent conflict nor Pakistan’s illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir and never will. Modi reiterated that Operation Sindoor, India’s precise military response to the brutal Pahalgam terror attack, was carried out without external consultation.

Contrary to Trump’s self-aggrandising claims, the ceasefire that followed was brokered via existing India-Pakistan military channels at Pakistan’s own request. India, which smashed Pakistan’s air defences, had no need for an American middleman playing peacemaker from afar.

Trump claimed he would end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours but has failed to meaningfully confront Vladimir Putin. He declared he would bring peace to the Middle East, but Israel continues to pound Gaza into rubble. Now, as Israel and Iran inch towards war, he is once again gravitating toward Pakistan which has consistently sponsored cross-border terrorism.

That Munir, a man steeped in extremist rhetoric and closely tied to the deep state machinery behind the Pahalgam massacre, is being feted in Washington speaks volumes. It is a grotesque insult to India who had in fact welcomed Trump’s second innings. It is also a reminder that Trump’s obsession with optics trumps any strategic coherence.

Pakistan’s generals are no strangers to manipulation, but even they must be surprised by how easily Trump is played. He treats them as indispensable partners in containing Iran, while wilfully ignoring their decades-long record of duplicity, from harbouring Osama bin Laden to undermining NATO’s efforts in Afghanistan. This is not realpolitik but reality television.

India has made clear it will talk to Pakistan only on two terms: terrorism and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Yet Trump barrels on, inflating his own role, twisting facts and sowing confusion.

His bromance with the Pakistani military, orchestrated in full view of the press, is a reminder that Trumpism enables aggressors while posturing as ‘mediator.’ Trump promised peace but has only delivered provocation thus far. From Ukraine to Kashmir, we have had enough of the Trump doctrine, so full of hollow boasts and vain interventions.