{"id":18877,"date":"2025-09-11T21:04:28","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T21:04:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=18877"},"modified":"2025-09-11T21:04:28","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T21:04:28","slug":"india-bet-backfired-us-should-pivot-to-pakistan-former-nsa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=18877","title":{"rendered":"India bet backfired, US should pivot to Pakistan: former NSA"},"content":{"rendered":"
The United States\u2019 long-standing strategic bet on India has failed to deliver, and Washington must now reconsider its South Asia policy by investing in a balanced partnership with Pakistan\u2014one that could help stabilize the region and even bring the US and China closer\u2014argues former Pakistani National Security Adviser Dr Moeed Yusuf.<\/p>\n

In the piece titled \u201cWhy America should bet on Pakistan\u201d published in the prestigious Foreign Affairs magazine, Dr Yusuf contends that the US has misread regional dynamics by overestimating India\u2019s strategic value and underestimating Pakistan\u2019s capacity to act as a balancing power. He urges Washington to course-correct, warning that continued overreliance on New Delhi risks further instability in an already volatile region.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe US bet on India has not paid off. Instead of becoming a steadfast partner to counterbalance China, India has pursued an independent and often divergent foreign policy,\u201d wrote Yusuf. \u201cMeanwhile, Pakistan, despite its economic and security challenges, remains a critical regional player that could help the US recalibrate its approach to South Asia.\u201d<\/p>\n

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He noted that despite heavy US investment\u2014ranging from civil nuclear deals to waivers on Russian arms purchases\u2014India continues to resist aligning fully with American interests.<\/p>\n

\u201cWashington has courted New Delhi with major economic, defense, and technology deals while insisting that it is in American national security interests to facilitate India\u2019s emergence as what US officials call a \u201cnet provider of security\u201d in the wider Indian Ocean region,\u201d Yusuf wrote.<\/p>\n

Citing India\u2019s neutral stance on Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine and its growing ties with both Moscow and Beijing, Dr Moeed Yusuf noted that the Modi government\u2019s foreign policy is driven more by a desire for \u201cstrategic autonomy\u201d than a clear alignment with the US-led global order \u2014 a development that, he warned, should raise concern among US think tanks.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite all these efforts, US policymakers should be alarmed by the results\u2026 For example, India took a roughly neutral position on Russia\u2019s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and has participated in efforts by some non-Western countries to shift away from trade in US dollars. These divergences are not accidental; they are derived from India\u2019s long-standing commitment to what it considers strategic autonomy in foreign policy,\u201d former NSA added.<\/p>\n

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Yusuf, who served as NSA from 2021 to 2022, identifies three faulty assumptions that have defined US policy toward the region over the past two decades: the belief that India would unconditionally rise as a counterweight to China; that Pakistan would naturally align with Beijing; and that Pakistan, due to its record in Afghanistan, was an unreliable long-term partner.<\/p>\n

He argues that these assumptions led Washington to isolate Pakistan and enable India\u2019s aggressive posture in the region. This included limiting military cooperation with Pakistan, stalling economic support, and allowing India to frame bilateral tensions as internal matters beyond US concern.<\/p>\n

Yusuf noted that Washington\u2019s decisions aligned neatly with India\u2019s goal of keeping Pakistan weak and isolated. This emboldened New Delhi to adopt a more muscular stance, escalating military strikes into Pakistani territory and deepening the regional divide.<\/p>\n

According to Yusuf, India\u2019s increasingly assertive actions\u2014including targeted strikes inside Pakistan and a growing rhetoric of hostility\u2014have only intensified Islamabad\u2019s tilt toward Beijing. Pakistan, he points out, now sources 80% of its new arms from China, a dramatic shift from its once-Western-dependent military.<\/p>\n

Despite deteriorating ties with the US in recent years, Yusuf highlights a shift in Washington\u2019s posture under President Donald Trump, who made overtures to Islamabad\u2019s military leadership and brokered a temporary ceasefire between India and Pakistan in 2025.<\/p>\n

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This thaw, Yusuf says, reflects a growing realization in Washington that its India-first policy has limited utility. He argues that Pakistan could be instrumental in creating a regional equilibrium\u2014not just between India and Pakistan\u2014but also in facilitating a more constructive US-China dynamic.<\/p>\n

Yusuf wrote that Pakistan\u2019s history as a bridge between Washington and Beijing\u2014most notably during Henry Kissinger\u2019s 1971 secret visit to China\u2014shows it can again play the \u201crole of regional fixer,\u201d .<\/p>\n

He notes that Pakistan\u2019s 2022 National Security Policy explicitly rejects geopolitical bloc politics and promotes economic connectivity and regional cooperation. This vision, Yusuf claims, aligns with American interests in promoting stability, open trade, and counterterrorism efforts.<\/p>\n

Former NSA emphasizes that Pakistan does not want to choose between China and the United States\u2014and nor should it be forced to.<\/p>\n

\u201cPakistan\u2019s economy depends on both powers. Trying to push it away from China would backfire. Instead, Washington should work with Islamabad to create an environment of pragmatic coexistence,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He proposes that the US could reduce tensions over China\u2019s investments in Pakistan\u2014particularly the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)\u2014by launching parallel or complementary infrastructure projects in the region. Yusuf suggests shared investments in regional connectivity could transform Pakistan into a commercial crossroads that benefits US, Chinese, and even Indian interests.<\/p>\n

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Moreover, cooperation in areas like counterterrorism and resource extraction\u2014especially in critical mineral zones like Reko Diq\u2014offers opportunities for collaboration that serve both American strategic goals and Pakistan\u2019s development needs.<\/p>\n

Yusuf warns that a continued US tilt toward India could exacerbate the risk of full-scale war in South Asia, particularly as India remains fixated on its rivalry with Pakistan. He highlights that New Delhi’s confrontational policies have distracted it from its strategic competition with China and could overstretch its military capabilities, especially in the face of a potential two-front conflict.<\/p>\n

He also underlines that improved relations with Pakistan could open doors for India to expand its access to Afghanistan and Central Asia\u2014benefits that are currently lost due to a hostile stance.<\/p>\n

Yusuf cautioned that unless the US encourages India-Pakistan dialogue to resolve longstanding disputes\u2014from terrorism to Kashmir to water-sharing\u2014the region will remain locked in a dangerous cycle.<\/p>\n

As the US seeks to adapt to a multipolar world, Yusuf calls for a \u201crealistic reset\u201d in its South Asia strategy\u2014one that does not treat India as the sole partner and acknowledges Pakistan\u2019s indispensable role in ensuring regional peace.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly a balanced US approach\u2014grounded in pragmatism and shared interests\u2014can ensure long-term stability in South Asia and safeguard American influence in the region,\u201d he concluded, warning that Washington\u2019s continued India-centric policy risks not only alienating Pakistan, but forfeiting its strategic foothold in all of South Asia.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The United States\u2019 long-standing strategic bet on India has failed to deliver, and Washington must now reconsider its South Asia policy by investing in a balanced partnership with Pakistan\u2014one that could help stabilize the region and even bring the US and China closer\u2014argues former Pakistani National Security Adviser Dr Moeed Yusuf. In the piece titled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18877\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}