Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir’s recent charm offensive in the United States, from rubbing shoulders with America’s top generals to private luncheons with Donald Trump, has raised eyebrows in New Delhi and piqued interest in Washington.

But for Husain Haqqani, former US ambassador to Pakistan and now a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, this ‘friendship’ is no mystery. He calls it nothing more than ‘a transactional improvement’ in ties.

“Trump needs success stories to proclaim and Pakistan is happy to give them to him,” Haqqani told Financial Times.

Munir’s outreach comes against the backdrop of strained India-Pakistan relations, including a bloody confrontation during Operation Sindoor. Experts believe Islamabad has been quick to bend on multiple fronts to please Trump — from exploring a US-backed crypto reserve to publicly crediting Donald Trump for ending hostilities with India.

However, Haqqani sees a bigger strategic ploy at work.

“Trump wants to annoy the Indians, and see if this will make them talk to him and accept his term,” he explains. These words hold value considering India and US are engaged in tough trade deal negotiations where Trump wants to extract the maximum and build inroads into India’s agriculture and dairy markets, a proposition India has been against.

Pakistan’s military leadership overpromising: expert

And the former diplomat warns that Pakistan’s military leadership may be overplaying its hand.

“Unelected leaders and military officials are willing to overpromise to appeal to what they think is Trump’s narcissism,” Hussain Nadim, a Washington-based critic of Munir’s rule, was also quoted in a Financial Times report. “Trump and his advisers may eventually run out of patience when they see that Pakistan is not delivering.”

It’s not just the Pakistani diplomatic experts, even American experts who have studied the country’s relationship with Asia Pacific read more than what meets the eye.

“What’s happening in US-Pakistan relations is a surprise. I would describe the relationship now as one that’s enjoying an unexpected resurgence, even a renaissance,” says Michael Kugelman, a non-resident senior fellow at the Asia Pacific Foundation. “Pakistan has very successfully understood how to engage with such an unconventional president.”

Munir’s Florida photo-ops with US Air Force’s Dan Caine and his two-hour lunch with Trump are good optics for now, but as diplomatic experts suggest, they are part of a calculated game where Trump gets talking points, and Pakistan gets attention, even if fleeting.