Post Trump Era: A Fresh Start or A Revival?

In Blog
March 18, 2021
Mahnoor Islam
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January 20th 2021 marked a new era for America. Joe Biden, a clean cut, non-controversial politician and the 47th vice president took over white house, defeating the notorious president Donald Trump. The two politicians share varying views on a number of topics. While Trump’s presidency has highlighted the country’s weaknesses and has damaged its standing

January 20th 2021 marked a new era for America. Joe Biden, a clean cut, non-controversial politician and the 47th vice president took over white house, defeating the notorious president Donald Trump. The two politicians share varying views on a number of topics. While Trump’s presidency has highlighted the country’s weaknesses and has damaged its standing in the international community, Biden seeks to reverse the damage. With regards to Pakistan, many foreign policy experts believed that if Trump had won, the relationship between the two states would be unpredictable. Many believe Biden will have a conventional approach.

According to Lt. Gen. Masood, Biden will be much more accommodating towards international alliances which were shunned by Trump during his time in the oval office. “Joe Biden will restore the dignity of all international organizations and that will help Pakistan because there will be a certain level of understanding about how America will operate,” stated Masood.

Furthermore, many have described Trump as a unilateralist who believed in protecting America’s interests at all cost, disregarding international consequences. Biden on the other hand, believes in diplomacy and global cooperation. With Biden’s presidency, Pakistan can seek to improve its relationship with the US.

It is very important to note that during Obama’s government, the US advocated adding Pakistan to FATF’s grey list based on the country’s weak anti money laundering structures. Biden was Obama’s vice president on both his terms in the office. Biden is well aware of Pakistan’s weaknesses Thus, Biden’s presidency may prove difficult for Pakistan.

What keeps Pakistan and the US together is their connection with Afghanistan. During his time as the vice president, Biden wanted a narrow, ‘counterterrorism-plus’ approach regarding Afghanistan. On 12th March 2021, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the US efforts regarding the peace process. The new government has also decided to review the Doha deal signed during Trump’s time. The deal discusses the US troops withdrawal from Afghanistan. The US also seeks to withdraw troops from Afghanistan on 1st May 2021.

While progress has been made regarding the Afghan peace process, a revival of the ‘Af-Pak’ may be witnessed yet again, which was not very well received by Pakistan and can therefore spoil relations with the two countries. The ‘Af-Pak’ approach was used by Obama, which was a term used to describe Pakistan and Afghanistan as a single theater of operations.

The Biden administration welcomed the agreement between India and Pakistan to de-escalate tensions on the Line of Control (LoC). The government also issued a statement regarding Kashmir and urged the two neighbors to hold direct talks on the conflict. Pakistan hopes that under the new government, India will not get a free pass on Kashmir as Biden has been vocal about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Kashmir Policy. Only time will tell how this plays out as it is very unlikely that the US shall do something that may ruin its ties with India. On an official trip to India, Trump also made a statement regarding human rights and talked about the importance of unity among the different religious communities of India.

Biden was also a supporter of The Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act (2009) otherwise known as the Kerry-Lugar Bill which was passed by Congress in 2009. The Act authorized the release of $1.5 billion annually to the Government of Pakistan as non-military aid between 2010 to 2014. Such a legislation could be revived again which would improve diplomatic ties as well as economic security for Pakistan.

In 2018, Trump cut off security assistance for Pakistan and called Pakistan a liar and a deceit. Trump talked about China solely in terms of politics. It discussed China as an opponent. Biden has stated that China is not a threat. Pakistan will need to work intelligently if it wants to strengthen its relationship with the US. Pakistan needs to find a way to enhance its relationship with the US however it also needs to keep in mind its relations with China. Pakistan will need to convince the US that Pakistan’s engagement with the China Pakistan Economic Corridor doesn’t mean it’s not interested in strong economic ties with the US. Pakistan needs to find a way to show the US that it welcomes any investment made by the US regarding public and private investment that will help Pakistan’s development.

A new presidency brings a lot of change with it. While many, including the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan congratulated and looked forward to Biden taking charge of the oval office, Biden can play a strong role in improving the Indo-Pak relationship and can also strengthen Pakistan’s economy. Only time will tell whether these four years will prove to be a new era for US-Pak relations or if they will be a revival of the previous tumultuous relationship between the two states.