Pakistan unlikely to figure prominently on Trump's foreign policy radar

Foreign policy experts in Pakistan believe that the victory of Donald Trump in the US Presidential election is unlikely to trigger any change in the tough stance adopted by Washington towards Islamabad over the past many years. 

Analysts maintain that the US policy towards Pakistan was never based on good personal terms and would not be any different under the incoming Trump administration.

Interestingly, Trump's triumph has been linked to the potential release of former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is incarcerated in Rawalpindi jail over multiple cases of corruption and sedition.

On Wednesday, as Trump announced his win in faraway West Palm Beach, celebrations broke out in the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) camp with several leaders highlighting Trump's "good personal relations" with party founder Imran Khan.

They insist that the new US President would use his office to influence the Shehbaz Sharif government and force Pakistan to release Khan from jail.

"A myth has been created that Trump had very close personal ties with Imran Khan. This is not true. The fact is that Pakistan did not have good terms with the US when Trump was the president. He wanted to get out of Afghanistan for which he sought help from then Pakistan PM Imran Khan in order to talk to the Taliban," Touqir Hussain, a former ambassador, wrote in Dawn on Thursday.

"It was because of Trump’s desire to leave Afghanistan that Imran Khan was given a visit to Washington and a warm, exceptional public praise from Trump. But once the deal with the Taliban was done, Trump turned his back on Pakistan, leaving no imprints on the relationship," he added.

Analysts opine that Pakistan’s relationship with the US, coupled with Islamabad’s domestic political dynamics, do not fall in the list of high public interest issues for Trump to look into.

"Trump’s policy towards Islamabad would be the same as Joe Biden's, keeping a low-intensity engagement and no stretching relations to the level of high significance or lowering the bar towards sanctions," said one expert.

Last month, more than 60 US Congress members urged US President Joe Biden to indulge in discussions with Islamabad and seek release of PTI's founding chairman.

On Thursday, Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO) termed all speculations on the issue as incorrect.

"President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif have congratulated newly elected US President Donald Trump. Pakistan desires strong bilateral relations with the United States. Any speculations about interference in Pakistan’s internal matters are baseless," said FO spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch during a weekly press briefing in Islamabad.

She mentioned that Pakistan and the United States remain "long standing friends and partners".

Another government source said that linking the release of PTI founder Imran Khan to the result of US elections was nothing but mere supposition.

"Cases against Imran Khan are still under consideration in the courts. His release is a legal matter on the local level. These cases would be considered according to the law, and the government would not accept any dictation from a foreign country on this matter," he said.

On Wednesday, Pakistan PM Sharif congratulated Trump on his US election win, calling it a "historic" victory.

"I look forward to working closely with the incoming administration to further strengthen and broaden the Pakistan-US partnership," he said.