Washington,President Donald Trump again humiliated Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday when he did not mention his name but referred to Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir in a social media post, urging several Muslim nations to join the Abraham Accords and formally recognize Israel.
Once again, the mention of Munir by Trump instead of Sharif has opened a debate on who actually leads Pakistan, a country which is infamous for producing military dictators.
Trump wrote in a social media post that he had spoken to leaders of a number of Muslim nations and urged them to embrace the 2020 Abraham Accords. After America ends its war with Iran, these countries were Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Türkiye, Egypt and Jordan. Membership of the accords would give a financial and economic boost to its members, he said.
“During my discussions Saturday with President Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of The United Arab Emirates, Emir Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani and Minister Ali al-Thawadi of Qatar, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir Ahmed Shah of Pakistan, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Türkiye, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi of Egypt, King Abdullah II of Jordan, and King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain, I said that after all the work done by the United States to try and pull this very complex puzzle together, it should be mandatory that all of these Countries, at a minimum, simultaneously, sign onto the Abraham Accords,” he
Pakistan’s dilemma over Abraham Accords“Trump’s appeal has put Pakistan in a dilemma as Islamabad had said that it would never accept it,” he said. Trump proposed the accords in 2020 to normalise the relationship between Israel and Arab nations. Its signatories are the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, Kazakhstan and Sudan.
Pakistan had said in 2020, under now-jailed Prime Minister Imran Khan, that it would never join the agreements. Cut to January 2026, Pakistan under Sharif’s government repeated it would never participate in it.
Experts also point out that accepting the Abraham Accords would make Pakistan look like a hypocrite as it has always backed a two-state solution for peace between Israel and Palestine. Acceptance of the accords will also impact Pakistan’s position on Jammu and Kashmir.
Hence Pakistan is in dilemma whether to accept the accords or not as in Trump’s second term the bonhomie between Islamabad and Washington has increased a lot. Indeed, Trump has also spoken highly of Munir publicly on many occasions, even describing him as a “very great guy”.
In particular, Munir has become the key figure in diplomatic attempts to resolve the US-Iran war. That, coupled with Trump’s reference to Munir in Abraham Accords post, has left one wondering – who really runs Pakistan.
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