How Pakistan's Asim Munir crafted his America trap
The United States recently declared the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and The Majeed Brigade as foreign terrorist organisations while Pakistan's army chief Asim Munir was in the US to attend farewell of US Central Command Commander General Michael Kurilla, who had previously termed Pakistan a "phenomenal partner" in counter-terrorism and later got a top award from Pakistan, is a significant step indicating the US is now back to being Pakistan's strategic ally. The US action on Baloch insurgents comes when the US is seeking oil and minerals in Pakistan which lie mainly in the western regions where Baloch insurgents hold sway. It appears after a hiatus when Pakistan grew closer to China, it is now back in America's lap.
With deft maneuvering, Pakistan appears to have successfully flipped the script on its relationship with the US. At the heart of this masterful manipulation is Pakistan's army chief Asim Munir, whose calculated charm offensive has turned US President Donald Trump's once-hostile stance toward Pakistan back into a strategic partnership. Trump had famously slammed Pakistan during his first term as a country that gave the US 'nothing but lies and deceit,' Trump's had tweeted at that time: "The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!" During his second term, Trump has often praised Pakistan while irritating India with his rough remarks.
Munir has crafted his American trap with flattery, transactional diplomacy and strategic deployment of two high-stakes assets: Pakistan's mineral wealth and a seductive cryptocurrency narrative.If there's one thing Pakistan's military establishment seems to have mastered, it's the psychological profile of Trump. Munir's charm offensive reportedly began in earnest in early 2025, when Pakistan played a crucial role in the arrest of an ISIS-K operative involved in the deadly 2021 Abbey Gate bombing in Kabul that killed 13 US Marines. Trump, who returned to the presidency in January 2025, publicly thanked Pakistan, marking the first major public shift in tone. Well aware that Trump is looking for wins around the world, Pakistan credited him for having prevented a possible India-Pakistan war and even nominating him for a Nobel Peace Prize. These symbolic gestures directly targeted Trump's well-known need for validation and prestige. The result of this charm offensive came in the form of an unprecedented lunch between Trump and Munir, a meeting that broke longstanding protocol and sent a clear signal that Trump felt respected by Pakistan in ways he did not feel by traditional US allies. However, Munir was not able to woo only Trump, he also pleased his son, Trump Jr.
While ego stroking laid the emotional groundwork, the real bait came in the form of access to Pakistan's untapped mineral wealth, particularly in resource-rich Balochistan, home to deposits of rare earth elements, copper, lithium and even oil (Trump has said the US and Pakistan will work together on developing Pakistan's massive oil reserves even though there is little evidence of such reserves).Trump Jr. and his business associate Zach Witkoff (the son of Steve Witkoff, an American real estate investor whom Trump has made his special envoy), both of whom visited Pakistan a few months ago, returned greatly impressed, according to reports. They were reportedly shown the potential of mineral and blockchain-based investment opportunities. These included cryptocurrency infrastructure projects tied to rare earth exports — a tantalising mix for the Trump family that has often blurred the lines between politics and business. It's no secret that Trump has long viewed international diplomacy through a business lens. Pakistan played directly into this worldview by framing its cooperation as a stupendous deal -- minerals for American tech and energy needs, and crypto for financial innovation.The US designation of the BLA and The Majeed Brigade as foreign terrorist organizations (is not coincidental. The move effectively delegitimises resistance to Pakistani control over Balochistan, an area crucial for its mineral prospects but rife with insurgency. Human rights concerns and separatist sentiments in Balochistan have long been a thorny issue for Western countries. But the US appears to have deprioritised these concerns in favor of strategic access to critical minerals, essential for electric vehicle batteries, semiconductors and clean energy. By backing Pakistan's crackdown on Baloch insurgents, the US stands to benefit in its larger contest with China which currently dominates global rare earth processing.
At General Kurilla's farewell, Munir issued a wider nuclear threat to India, warning: "We are a nuclear nation. If we think we are going down, we'll take half the world down with us." Munir's wild comment made from US soil shows his confidence stems from his ability to turn the US away from India and back into strategic partnership with Pakistan. India, long seen as the natural US partner in South Asia, may view this pivot with deep concern. The Trump administration's sudden warmth toward Pakistan could complicate the US-India strategic relationship especially when Trump has imposed steeply 50% tariffs on India while going soft on China. The American pivot towards India and away from Pakistan had happened as it saw India as a tool to counter China. For India, the US-Pakistan bonhomie suggests that even deep strategic ties can be overshadowed by transactional politics and personality-driven diplomacy. Whether one calls it a trap or a strategic masterstroke, Munir's campaign has paid dividends. By recognising Trump's vulnerabilities -- his need for flattery, deal-making instincts and hunger for legacy -- Pakistan has repositioned itself from being a problem to being a partner. It has cleverly used the tools of modern diplomacy, from crypto to critical minerals, to recast its strategic value to the US. What remains to be seen is whether this warmth will survive for long. Trump's foreign policy is known to be volatile and India can't be removed entirely from American strategic calculus. Despite differences on trade, India-US strategic partnership is still intact. While Munir has laid a well-crafted trap for the US, which appears to be walking into it, Pakistan's inability to deliver what it has promised -- or India's ability to emphasise its value to the US -- can lead to Munir's quick fall from US favour.
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