Pakistan Emerges as Key Player in Iran War Negotiations

The Iranians are denying it strenuously, but President Trump was not engaging in hyperbole when he hinted at diplomatic maneuvering that might lead to a deal for ending the war in Iran.An unlikely country, Pakistan, is vying to play the role of peacemaker, and Mr. Trump is on record as thinking highly of the chief of the Pakistan army, Field Marshall Asim Muir.Well before the start of the Iran war, Mr. Trump lunched with General Munir in the White House and said he was ”honored” to meet him. That was when Mr. Trump was engrossed in heading off a potential war between Pakistan and India after terrorists slaughtered 26 Indian tourists in the Indian portion of Kashmir last year.The meeting was “seen in Islamabad,” the Pakistan capital, “as a major diplomatic win,” said Pakistan’s leading English-language newspaper, Dawn, particularly since an Indian delegation had met earlier with Vice President Vance. General Munir’s “invitation to the White House,” said Dawn, was “a diplomatic counterpoint” to gloating in New Delhi over “the apparent inability of the Pakistani delegation to secure a similar meeting.”Now both the Pakistan and Indian press are quoting Mr. Trump as having called General Munir his “favorite field Marshall” while greeting Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, during talks on Gaza held in Egypt last October. Mr. Trump was equally impressed by Mr. Sharif, as reported by a leading Indian newspaper, the Hindustan Times.The bonhomie between Mr. Trump and Mr. Sharif was “on full display during the Gaza peace summit in Egypt’s Sharm El-Sheikh,” the paper headlined.Pakistan, exerting its influence on Iran while India has shied away from the role of peacemaker, is advertising its potential for bringing about talks. Dawn quotes Pakistan’s foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, as saying both America and Iran have “expressed confidence in Pakistan to facilitate talks between them” after a meeting with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt.Pakistan sees the chance to gain the upper hand, diplomatically, over India, which has played a much stronger role in relations with foreign powers. India’s policy, before the Iran war, was swinging toward America and Japan as a foil against its huge northern neighbor, China, with which it’s been feuding in periodic flare-ups since a bloody border war in 1962 in which China nipped off bits of Indian territory.“Pakistan is gaining diplomatic visibility during the Iran conflict, while questions are growing over India’s quieter strategy,” headlines the German TV network Deutsche Welle. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, finding the war “worrisome,” is looking for increasing oil imports from Russia. The Indian foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishanka, appeared almost disdainful of Pakistan’s possible diplomatic role, saying India would hew to its traditional “independent” position, in accordance with the country’s historic policy of non-alignment between rival powers.The leader of the political opposition in India, Rahul Gandhi, called Mr. Modi’s standoffish position “a universal joke,” but it was far from clear how far Pakistan’s willingness to bring about talks will go beyond wishful thinking.Dawn quoted Mr. Dar as saying that he and the other three foreign ministers, all representing Islamic countries, agreed “this war is not in favor of anyone and would only lead to death and destruction.” Pakistan, he said, was “very happy that both Iran and the U.S. have expressed their confidence in Pakistan to facilitate the talks.”Pakistan’s position, realistic or not, represents another turn in the country’s up-and-down relationship with America. A staunch American ally during much of the Cold War, Pakistan was a member of SEATO, the Southeast Asian Treaty Organization, which fell apart after the fall of the America-backed South Korean regime in 1975.Relations soured further when Pakistan was revealed to have been shielding the man responsible for the 9/11 2001 attacks, Osama Bin Laden.Complicating matters, Pakistan has been caught up in a border conflict with Afghanistan ever since the Taliban rolled over the American-backed regime in Kabul and President Biden pulled out American forces in 2021. Tensions remain high while China brokers talks between Pakistan and the Taliban in Umumqi, capital of the northwestern Xinjiang region of China. Mr. Trump has skewered Mr. Biden for that tragic fiasco, but America’s relations with Pakistan have improved since Mr. Trump helped Pakistan and India avoid full-scale war after the Kashmir massacre. He gives General Munir unstinting credit. “This man was extremely influential in stopping it from the Pakistan side,” Mr. Trump said after hoisting him at the White House. Now the question is whether Pakistan’s leaders can conjure the same magic in bringing about peace with Iran.

Pakistan Emerges as Key Player in Iran War Negotiations

More from the New York Sun

New Keith Haring Exhibition Makes Questionable Case for the Enduring Popularity of the Pop Shop Artist

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Against the Iron Dome

Federal Judge Says Legal Challenge to Evanston’s Reparations Program Can Proceed

Justice Jackson, Alone on the Supreme Court’s Left Flank, Takes Criticism From Fellow Liberal Justices Kagan and Sotomayor

Zendaya and Robert Pattinson Make a Fine ‘Drama’ Out of a Wedding Crisis

Bensonhurst Protests Emerging as Flashpoint Against Mamdani’s Push To Build More Adult Homeless Shelters in Middle-Class Neighborhoods

By Opposing Iran War, European Allies Risk Their Future and Disappoint Rubio, a ‘Big Supporter’ of NATO

Democratic State Attorneys General Vow To Fight Trump’s Unilateral Attempt To Crack Down on Mail Voting