Munir’s Moves, Trump’s Praise, Saudi’s Backing: Is Pakistan Plotting Comeback From Diplomatic Isolation? | World News

Pakistan Diplomacy: Nearly six months before cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan lost power, Pakistan was dragged into diplomatic exile. For almost three years thereafter, the country’s leadership remained cut off from major Western capitals. In global politics, Islamabad seemed to have disappeared.

But over the past 10 months, under the command of Field Marshal Asim Munir and his obedient civilian structure, the country has seemingly struggled to find its way back. The approach is very subtle; Praising US President Donald Trump, warming ties with Saudi Arabia and reopening old trade doors to the West.

Last week, Pakistani Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan met a European Union (EU) delegation in Brussels. Both parties agreed to strengthen their partnership under the EU’s Generalized Preferences Plus Scheme (GSP+). The program has brought Pakistan approximately $8 billion annually since 2014.

Islamabad also reached out to Ottawa (Canada) and other Western capitals to revive trade momentum that had been frozen for years.

There are signs of thaw in Washington. Trump repeatedly spoke highly of Munir. He described Pakistan as a “peacemaker” and claimed that it had helped calm tensions between India and Pakistan by avoiding what he called a nuclear scare.

A new “package deal” between the two countries is now taking shape, which includes US access to certain military bases, cooperation on cryptocurrency monitoring, critical mineral exploration and investment in Pakistan’s offshore oil fields.

The agreement gives the Pakistani army a political facelift. This could be a lifeline for its struggling economy. Islamabad recently transferred 23 offshore oil blocks to four international consortia, including a Turkish company. However, experts say the possibility of extracting oil from these deep-sea fields remains uncertain.

Since its independence in 1947, Pakistan has drilled only 18 wells in its 300,000 square kilometer coastal area near Oman, the UAE and Iran.

At the same time, Pakistan is courting Riyadh with unusual energy. During Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s recent visit to the kingdom, both countries announced a new Economic Cooperation Framework. The plan includes joint projects in the fields of energy, mining, agriculture, information technology, tourism and food security.

A defense agreement signed in September declared that an attack on one country would be considered an attack on both countries; Analysts see the clause as Pakistan’s effort to rebrand itself as a reliable partner in the Islamic world and attract Saudi investment to stabilize its battered economy.

Behind the charm offensive lies a sense of urgency. Analysts believe that Pakistan’s diplomacy under Munir was reactive rather than strategic. The deals appear to have been rushed based on optics rather than vision. The military is trying to regain public approval by pushing Pakistan to take a firm stand against India. Islamabad has even hinted at sending troops to Gaza to signal solidarity with the Muslim world.

Experts say these hasty diplomatic gestures reflect Pakistan’s internal instability. They see Munir’s global aid as an attempt to legitimize military rule under the guise of building peace.

In reality, they say, the world still sees Islamabad not as a reliable partner but as an opportunistic state seeking attention.