Description: On the outskirts of the UN Summit, US President Donald Trump, after meeting Turkey’s Erdogan is set to formally host the Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan’s Army Chief, Asim Munir. The meeting is expected to deliver clearance on the previously concluded trade deal and the memorandum of understanding which constituted US excavation of Pakistan’s rare earth minerals. The countries have considerably repaired bilateral relations, especially after recent aggravation of US – India relations. The US is expected to invest resources towards the exploration of Pakistan’s rare earth mineral deposits through the United States Strategic Minerals (USSM) and the Frontier Works Organization, a military led construction and investment company. The countries are also expected to develop closer anti and counterterrorism cooperation since Pakistan has been continuously dealing with armed insurgencies in the mineral rich regions such as the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Waziristan and Balochistan.
Impact: In light of recent deterioration of relations between the US and India, Pakistan has topped the list of key strategic partners in the region for the US. The establishment of closer ties would mark the abandonment of traditional strategic relations between Pakistan and the US as security partners and explore other venues of cooperation which would strengthen US presence and influence in the region. The US would leverage the partnership to condition trade talks and other forms of cooperation with India in future endeavors while also exploiting Pakistan’s rare earth mineral deposits to counter the predominant Chinese influence in the country, embodied through the $62bn China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) partnership which is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Pakistan would benefit through enhanced US presence in the country for countering the numerous armed insurgencies and separatist movements as well as through redirecting resources towards dominant national revenue streams such as rare earth minerals, which would contribute towards lowering the country’s projected $130 billion external debt.