Daily Times

Narendra Modi’s bear hug with Donald Trump has dispelled any aspersions cast that their meeting would be tension-filled. On the contrary, Trump proved to be the perfect gentleman. First of all he refrained from bringing up that thorny issue of climate change. And then he went out of his way to demonstrate a level of personal intimacy with the Indian Premier that highlighted his administration’s commitment to New Delhi’s status as Washington’s strategic partner for the 21st century.

Inevitably, Pakistan was the absent third wheel in all this with both leaders demanding the usual from it. Namely that it do more to curb extremism within its borders, especially meaning cracking down on those militant groups that use Pakistani territory to launch cross-border attacks.

Nevertheless, Trump proved he still can surprise. In a somewhat unexpected move the unquiet American announced that as far as he was concerned Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) chief Syed Salahuddin was a global terrorist and he wasn’t afraid to designate him as such. Although the HM was labelled a terrorist organisation by India, the United States and the EU more than a decade ago — the timing of the Trump move is significant for a number of reasons.

Salahuddin is the first individual to be named a global terrorist who poses no imminent threat to the US, thereby underscoring how overtly Washington is aligning itself with India’s stance on Kashmir. Moreover, unlike its alleged backing of organisations such as the Jamaat-ud-Dawa — Pakistan has openly shown its support for Salahuddin and allowed him to operate in urban centres such as Muzaffarabad and Rawalpindi. Thus, the global terrorist tag is a clear signal that the US is standing by India in its claims of Pakistani state-sponsored terrorism; a label that several US lawmakers have pinned on this country.

Pakistan will have to think hard and fast when it comes to re-evaluating its Kashmir strategy. It has been using the death of Burhan Wani last year to spotlight Indian atrocities in occupied Kashmir. Yet both Wani and Salahuddin hail from the HM. Thus the US move represents a diplomatic masterstroke for the Indian government. For the latter can now claim that Wani — like Salahuddin — was in fact a militant undeserving of international sympathy. This will naturally take the wind out of Pakistani manoeuvres that rely upon raising global support for the Kashmiri struggle for independence. Modi’s meeting with Trump, therefore, not only poses significant challenges for Islamabad — it also places several hurdles in path to Kashmiri self-determination.  *

Published in Daily Times, June 29th, 2017.