Donald Trump Speech to Islamic nations from a Pakistani's Prospectus

[Realistic Change]

Pakistan handled its diplomatic relations with the US very poorly. This is the shortest answer for the issue at hand.

US considered the entire subcontinent in its strategic calculus but Pakistan somehow felt that US would gravitate only towards Pakistan in the region and show a middle finger to India.

Can we realistically expect a foreign entity to show a middle finger to India due to regional issue of Kashmir? This is a shortsighted assumption. Even China cannot ignore India in its strategic calculus forever. India is a huge market for investment and economics take precedence over resolution of regional disputes for a foreign entity. US has refused to pick sides on Kashmir because it does not wants to alienate one stakeholder for the sake of other.

US can offer significant investment package to Pakistan but US-Pak relationship is very limited in its scope; mostly Pakistani military establishment have been the chief beneficiary of this relationship. People-to-people level contact is almost absent. On top of this issues like political instability, corruption, terrorism and negative portrayal of US in Pakistan are not helping the situation. Investment comes when the relations between two states adopt a positive tone.

Keeping US at arms length does not bodes well for Pakistan actually; US has a presence in Afghanistan and Pakistan cannot ignore this matter.

And no! US does not needs Pakistan anymore than Pakistan needs US. This is apparent from the fact that even CPEC have not turned heads in the US vis-a-vis Pakistan. Harboring an inflated sense of self-worth have led us astray and Pakistan's near irrelevance in the global Islamic counter-terrorism summit is an eye-opener.

A senior officer in Foreign Office in Islamabad quipped "I don't know what Pak got out of this summit - even just for mere optics; it was a disaster."

But PMLN fanboys will make this debacle as PMLN vs PPP or PTI, It's not - it's a failure of PMLN's Govt., and responsibility cannot be shifted on to any other arm.

 

[Kabira]

Nawaz was invited to represent Pakistan on WoT like dozens of other Islamic leaders. If anyone expected Trump to bow down to Nawaz Shairf and kiss his feet then get realistic. Stupid youthias

 

[Samurai_assassin]

We have bro. We have. They know it. Why would they pressure us to do more and demand a halt to CPEC? Americans have lost a lot of credibility. A pussy grabber is today ruling over them. It speaks volume.

However, I do agree that we need to stand on our own feet completely. USAID and all other alike organizations shouldn't have a platform in Pakistan. They only promote their own agenda.

It's business as usual with Uncle Sam, blame Pakistan for all of Americas destruction yet happily sell WMDs to India. This nation (US) will never be an equal partner of Pak. They deserted Pak when the Soviets left AFG in 1989 and for the past 16 years they have been a stubborn thorn agaisnt Pakistan. My own opinion Pakistan is surrounded by enemies, India, Afghanistan and Iran. Pakistan should introduce national service for all able citizens as the chance of a major conflict on all three borders is a very serious reality. The US will never come to Pakistans support they want Indian to be the sole dominant force in South Asia just like Isreal in the Middle East. Pakistan needs to stay away from the yanks as they'll creat more death and destruction for Pak on the coming years.

 

[idune]

Pakistan handled its diplomatic relations with the US very poorly. This is the shortest answer for the issue at hand.

US considered the entire subcontinent in its strategic calculus but Pakistan somehow felt that US would gravitate only towards Pakistan in the region and show a middle finger to India.

Can we realistically expect a foreign entity to show a middle finger to India due to issue of Kashmir? This is a shortsighted assumption. Even China cannot ignore India in its strategic calculus forever. India is a huge market for investment and economics take precedence over regional disputes for a foreign entity. US has declared Kashmir a disputed region but refused to pick sides on it because it does not wants to alienate one stakeholder at the cost of other.

US can offer significant investment package to Pakistan but US-Pak relationship is very limited in its scope; mostly Pakistani military establishment have been a beneficiary of this relationship. People-to-people level contact is almost absent. On top of this issues like political instability, corruption, terrorism and negative portrayal of US in Pakistan are not helping the situation. Investment comes when the relations between two states adopt a positive tone.

Keeping US at arms length does not bodes well for Pakistan actually; US has a presence in Afghanistan and Pakistan cannot ignore this matter.

And no! US does not needs Pakistan anymore than Pakistan needs US. This is apparent from the fact that even CPEC have not turned heads in the US vis-a-vis Pakistan. Harboring an inflated sense of self-worth have led us astray and Pakistan's near irrelevance in the global Islamic counter-terrorism summit is an eye-opener.

I agree most of your points. Its political and military establishments mis handled the relation and created benefit only for them instead of Pakistani nation. That being said in current economic and geo political context US does not have much to offer other than coercive bully.

However, I disagree to this point "US can offer significant investment package to Pakistan". US government can not do much about investment. If Pakistan creates necessary infrastructure, have electricity, provide security and have good pool of human resources, not only US but also companies from all over will bound to come to Pakistan. Fact that Pakistan trying to address electricity, security and infrastructure aggressively, is driving india crazy. Because, everyone know US or investment from anywhere else will only look for profitability.

 

[Realistic Change]

If pro PMLN newspapers like The Nation are publishing these types of stories - then something went terribly wrong.

--------------

RIYADH - Something has gone terribly wrong. This is the only way one can describe what happened to Pakistani delegation headed by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the Arab-Islamic-American summit held in the Saudi capital on Sunday.

The popular sentiment among the majority of Pakistani media delegation was that of a total humiliation of the sole Muslim nuclear power because not only there was no mention of Islamabad’s role against global terrorism but also the prime minister of the ‘frontline state’ was denied the opportunity to put forth its point of view.

Representatives of some minion states were allowed to speak that have not even tasted a shred of the kind of carnage faced by Pakistan, which however has turned the tide on terror in an unprecedented episode of courage, commitment and sacrifice that no other participant of the 35-state summit could even think of offering for world peace.

“The nations of Europe have also endured unspeakable horror. So too have the nations of Africa and even South America. India, Russia, China and Australia have been victims,” US President Donald Trump said in his keynote address, skipping the name of Pakistan - which lost over 70,000 civilians and more than 6,000 of its valiant soldiers to terrorism.

The mention of India among the list of terror victims was more pinching as it comes at a time Islamabad, through spy-terrorist Kalbhushan Jadhav’s case at International Court of Justice, is trying to convince the world of New Delhi’s role in fanning terror.

Terming India a victim of terrorism was also a deeply painful insult to innocent, unarmed Kashmiris who are fighting for their just cause of liberating their land from the oppressive India and facing worst kind of state terrorism at the hands of its armed forces.

Joining Muslim Nato fires back!

An even bigger setback for Pakistan’s foreign policy came when both Trump and Saudi King Salman – the most influential pair – turned the summit into a launching pad against Iran, the leader of the Shia Muslims that shares a 909 km long border with Pakistan, whose around 20 percent population is Shia by faith.

Accusing Saudi Arabia’s regional rival of fuelling “the fires of sectarian conflict and terror”, Trump called for isolating Tehran. “Until the Iranian regime is willing to be a partner for peace, all nations of conscience must work together to isolate it,” Trump said.

Saudi King Salman in his speech called Iran “the spearhead of global terrorism” and called for containing it. “We did not know terrorism and extremism until the [Ayatollah Ruhollah] Khomeini revolution reared its head [in Iran],” he said.

Pakistan has joined the 34-nation KSA-led military alliance ‘against terrorism’ and the government allowed its celebrated ex-army chief Raheel Sharif to head alliance’s rapid deployment forces – despite fierce opposition at home.

The move was opposed by almost all opposition parties over fears that the so-called ‘Muslim NATO’ could eventually turn out to be an alliance of Sunni Gulf states against Shia Iran and bring Islamabad into the vortex of transnational Sunni-Shia conflict.

The cold-shoulder attitude of King Salman to Pakistani delegation was particularly hurtful. Some diplomats were of the view that since Pakistan refused to send its troops to fight against Iran-backed rebels in Yemen, it might have annoyed the Saudi monarchy.

Though both Trump and King Salman also called for defeating Sunni terrorist state-cum-organistaion of Islamic State (ISIS), it was clear that Iran and its allies are going to be the main target of this new battle in the name of terrorism.

Interestingly, it is none other than the US and the KSA [Kingdom of Saudi Arabia] which are thought to be the creators of Al-Qaeda and ISIS.

Trump goes Bush

Trump, who would spit venom against Muslims during his election campaign and who is now living up to his words by pursuing anti-Muslim policies, urged Muslim leaders to take a stand against religious extremism, describing this struggle as a “battle between good and evil” – a catchphrase made popular by former US Present George W Bush.

He also conveniently overlooked the state terrorism perpetuated by the successive Israeli regimes, particularly that of Benjamin Netanyaho – who had told the then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that he would continue to butcher and slaughter Palestinian men, women and children.

Mr Trump also avoided criticising his Saudi hosts and assembled leaders of Arab and Islamic nations on any human rights violations in their countries – a clear break from the practice of his predecessor Barack Obama.

Prime Embarrassment!

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, earlier on his special flight, spent nearly two and a half hours consulting his comrades-in-arms preparing and finalising his speech that he thought he would deliver at the summit.

Also, the members of the media delegation were given to understand that after checking against delivery, the speech would be released to accompanying journalists. But now, the prime minister or his staff will carry that speech folder back home.

Later, neither Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz nor any other responsible person was available to explain why the prime minister was denied the opportunity to speak to the participants of the summit, for which a Saudi minister only last week visited Islamabad and extended the invitation to PM Sharif.

It was also quite strange that though there was almost no possibility of a Sharif-Trump meeting, the Foreign Office, back at home, kept hyping it up. In the end, let alone the meeting, we were even not invited to let the others know how we think about the fight against terrorism.

Pakistan was essentially the most important Muslim country after Saudi Arabia in terms of leadership of the Muslim Ummah and the leading state in terms of fight against global terrorism, but the treatment meted out to us here in Riyadh made us feel like we are pitiful losers.

A painful day for journalists

The moment the Saudi monarch closed the summit the media persons started receiving frantic calls from their offices back home in Pakistan with questions like: what has happened, how it happened, why it happened?

One of the frequently asked questions was: “Do we have a Foreign Office? But no one had any reasonable answer to this query.

This is understood that after the summit was over the prime minister must have remained engaged in remaining activities, including proceeding to the Moatamarat for groundbreaking ceremony of World Centre against Extremisms.

All said and done, for Pakistani journalists it was a dreadful day – the one full of disappointment and hurt. In the evening, every single one of us was returning to his hotel room from the Conference Centre with a heavy heart.

 

[Desert Fox]

I was watching the Donald Trump speech to the Islamic nations , and on the point of which countries have faced terrorist attacks , he start with 9/11 the deadliest Attack on USA , and than talk about Europe , Middle eastern Countries and than he jumped to India , Australia and other countries completely ignoring the one of the country which is effected by Terrorism most, and has been the front Ally in this War on Terror and that is Pakistan .. Should i call it a mistake , bad foreign Policy of our Leaders and lack of lobbying on international Front ? what ever the reason is that Trump mention countries like Behrain , Kuwait and UAE ( smaller GCC nations ) ignoring Pakistan in almost everything even include that its a Former COAS which is leading the Islamic NATO .

Donald trump's using India name under the terror Effected country and not Pakistan is indeed a Hypocrisy because i don't know what else to call it ?

lets discuss this that are really getting Isolated despite some Pakistani fanboyz jumping on every visit Pakistani official made to poke Indians that we are not Isolated ? Today as a Pakistani i feel insulted for my nation and all the 5000+ soldiers who died fighting the War on terror from the front line , and made significance advancements to destroy the Terrorist Networks , It won't be too much to say that Performance of Pakistan to tackle Terrorism is far greater than any GCC or NATO country operating in their or on foreign lands .

As a Pakistani common Civilian i would like to launch a protest to the So called Arab Brothers or American which call us their Ally in this war to ignore our dead, which not just include Law Enforcement personnel but civilians that include kids (APS) and women and elderly people in almost every Part of Pakistan , Why none of our Arab Brother stand up to talk that Why trump Ignore the matter of Kashmir where the innocents are dying in hundreds and India's use of brute Force on Students ?

What my Country and Soldiers and Civilians did to fight the Terrorist does not need acknowledgement from any but as far as this nation ( Pakistan ) and its people stand firm with the security forces to crush we would not need anyone's acknowledgement but it would be good to see the world stand with us and see our blood as Human blood .. we have already see Hypocrisy from the Donald trump and Arab nations on the wave of Terrorism that Hit Pakistan in February this Year which concluded with 100+ Innocent Pakistani's dead and hundreds injured .

@Oscar @Irfan Baloch @MastanKhan @Basel @war&peace @Kaptaan @Horus @The Sandman @The Eagle @The Deterrent @WAJsal @waz @Icarus @Zibago @django @MilSpec @nair @Spring Onion @Nilgiri @Chinese-Dragon @Beast @cabatli_53 @American Pakistani @beijingwalker @Windjammer and others

The elephant in the room here is our weak foreign policy and our weak economic stature compared to the countries you listed. All of these problems stem from our corrupt leadership and the mismanagement of our bureaucracy in our domestic affairs as well as our foreign affairs. Our political leaders never negotiate with foreign nations from a position of dignity or respect. They're more concerned about looting the country and beefing up their financial gains.

Compare our leaders to those of Saudi leaders or even Iranian leadership. The contrast is like that of night and day.

US has strong economic and military interests invested in Saudi Arabia, Europe, Israel, India, and Australia. These countries have some form of leverage or influence within American politics that ignoring them would be like shooting oneself in the foot.

But all of this presupposes the fact that we even need American approval of our sacrifices, which honestly we should not. It makes us look desperate for approval. It should not matter to us because as soon as we start respecting ourselves and get our own house in order only then will we earn the respect of others.

@The Sandman @Psychic @Nilgiri @Asim B. @Ulla

Is the Politicians are all to be blamed ? haven't we know that Foreign policy is run by Establishment/Army ?

We are making the same mistake we made with relying too much on America and now we are doing the same with China. I know many won't like this but this is a fact. Relying too much on one country makes us beholden to them and that should never be a position we should desire to put ourselves in after having gone through similar relationship with uncle sam. At least in this regard indian foreign policy has been sensible. They are enjoying strong relations with every regional and global rival. Whereas we Pakistanis always jump into one basket happily.

May be he didn't want to say what US establishment wanted him to say about Pakistan.
Anyway and anyhow, Trump has to call us on regular basis, we know it, he knows it, and they know it.

Nice signature. My feeling exactly.

 

[Zibago]

Same public which for long and many still say terrorists are our naraz brathars. Same public which voted for men who wanted to open taliban office in Islamabad.

Kiyani could easily have launched zarb azb in 2009 but he was scared of backlash from who? You guessed it, from Pakistani public.

Well he did start swat and south wazirisitan operation so i wouldnt completely blame him for a cautious approach

burqa mulla is presented as victim of dictatorship by political parties.

True

To potis here and in sold out media.

Geez i see more baboons going apes shit over disrespect to the great leader we are happy GCC turned their backs on him

If pro PMLN newspapers like The Nation are publishing these types of stories - then something went terribly wrong.

The nation and Pakistan Today want status of GEO and want govt funding

All said and done, for Pakistani journalists it was a dreadful day – the one full of disappointment and hurt. In the evening, every single one of us was returning to his hotel room from the Conference Centre with a heavy heart.

He went to RIyadh with his lawyer why did he do that we all know that a new chithi was required

 

[The Sandman]

The elephant in the room here is our weak foreign policy and our weak economic stature compared to the countries you listed. All of these problems stem from our corrupt leadership and the mismanagement of our bureaucracy in our domestic affairs as well as our foreign affairs. Our political leaders never negotiate with foreign nations from a position of dignity or respect. They're more concerned about looting the country and beefing up their financial gains.

Compare our leaders to those of Saudi leaders or even Iranian leadership. The contrast is like that of night and day.

US has strong economic and military interests invested in Saudi Arabia, Europe, Israel, India, and Australia. These countries have some form of leverage or influence within American politics that ignoring them would be like shooting oneself in the foot.

Totally agree brother it's a failure of own foreign policy (which is almost non existent imo).

But all of this presupposes the fact that we even need American approval of our sacrifices, which honestly we should not. It makes us look desperate for approval. It should not matter to us because as soon as we start respecting ourselves and get our own house in order only then will we earn the respect of others.

It's not about approval bro it's about recognition of our sacrifices in this WOT which the whole world ignores because we failed to tell the people of our sacrifices.
here my post in a bit detail about it
https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/dona...istanis-prospectus.497143/page-4#post-9501087

 

[Desert Fox]

My dear masoom awam this isn't about getting a shabashi from "Gora sahib" for once think logically and not emotionally! just imagine if we had managed to tell the whole world of our sacrifices and contribution to the WOT just think what our image would've been in the whole world today everyone would've sympathized with us on Balochistan (means telling everyone look how india spreads terrorism) but the truth is no one even mentions Pakistan when it comes to WOT (infact we still get the blames for terrorism) this may sound absurd but look how jews still take benefits by playing the holocaust card in front of the whole world we really failed those 70k civilians/soldiers this would've happened if we had just 1 visionary leader doesn't matter if he's a soldier or civilian truth is when it came to foreign policy and creating a positive image of Pak both army and civ's failed us.

You brought up an excellent point! What Pakistan lacks is a strong, patriotic, and dedicated information arm that could spread awareness about Pakistan's sacrifices in the WoT.

Most countries have established strong multi-lingual propaganda news outlets to promote their world view to the world like Russia has RT and Iran has Press TV. What is Pakistan's equivalent?

Interestingly most Westerners who are aware of the various wars going on in the Muslim World credit Iran and Russia for being the bullwark against terrorism. This is again because of strong Russian and Iranian propaganda which has made people think they are the only two countries fighting terrorism.

Also, look at American politics for example and how internet trolls have normalized a new counter culture in America and Europe. Maybe we can start emulating them? This is an information war after all and we need to get our message out there.

if we had just 1 visionary leader doesn't matter if he's a soldier or civilian

The unfortunate reality is that no genuine and honest person will ever come through Parliamentary Democracy in Pakistan. A good person doesn't have the chance in such a corrupt system. The whole system need to be completely overhauled.

 

[Headlines]

Keep on crying attention seekers.you ve not anything worth that world.community gives attention to you other than terrorism.

 

[el nino]

Pakistan is paying the price for some almighty own goals.

Letting OBL roam free in Pakistan .......AND then claim we new nothing of this .
Supporting terror groups and calling them good terrorists
leaning towards china rather than the West & USA
letting your military especially Army run your strategic objectives and economy
getting into an arms race with neighbour who has 8 times your resources

I cant think of one single smart move by your generals in 30 years.

AND THEN YOU WONDER WHY ??? no body gives you attention

 

[Hakikat ve Hikmet]

Two take-aways from Trump's speech:

• Ask not what the USA can do for you, ask what you can do for the USA.
• If you can't save your sorry souls, too bad - blame your parents.

Elhamdulillah!!! Last time I fell for that "House Nigger" - no more!!!!

 

[MultaniGuy]

Well from a Pakistani perspective, Donald Trump did say a few good things like a "message of love" to the muslim world.

 

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

Great gesture for Donald Trump to pray at Jewish wall
And wear the holly cap as well

Did he also performed the Islamic prayers in OIC meeting ? Just checking

He also requested a 1 vs 1 with Sacred wall , without any US troops or people to hear what he will communicate with the wall


Just thought it was cute


Obviously while visiting the Islamic Country Organization Ivanka had free flowing hair style however , in different circumstances the hair was covered and tucked nicely in a cap

Quite a Entry !!

Just thought it was interesting she was there to advise Saudi Women about dress code but her self when she went to pray 1 day later she was wearing "All Black" and head cover

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Ajab Dunya hai ..


But great gesture by Saudis to grant 100 Million Donation to Charity

Win win situation for Trump

"Remember the speech during election when he criticized Obama for bowing down to King"
HAHAHAHAHA

Seems like TRUMP is briliant got the vote and got the chance to get medal too

While he was visiting Saudia , the US stock market was Tanking !!! One quick visit to Israel to touch and kiss the wall and Stock market comes back to normality

May be this Trump fella is a Genius


And lets look at the wonderful family when they are dealing with Christian Entities

2-3 Days after the OIC meeting and meeting with Saudia

Quite facinating how quickly the head gear and religious stance changes depending on who you deal with

 

[Desert Fox]

First, we need to come out from this delusion that our anti-terrorism efforts dwarf that of NATO because our operations are domestic whereas NATO is contending with this menace on a global scale. Let us also not forget the role of NATO in enhancing our counter-terrorism capability and also their role in assassinating a large number of terrorists inside Pakistan with use of drones. Give credit where due.

Secondly, what is the state of our foreign policy?

Nawaz Sharif is wearing the hat of foreign minister instead of hiring one. Conversely, Nawaz is mired in charges of corruption and does not have the dignity to step down until investigations conclude.

Secondly, Nawaz chose Sartaj Aziz to handle matters of diplomacy when he is engaged elsewhere. This guy should be spending time with his family now due to his age and his vision of diplomacy is restricted to CPEC and Anti-Indian rhetoric mostly.

Time and again, I have reiterated that Pakistan should revisit its foreign policy and make an effort to escalate its ties with traditional allies such as Saudi Arabia and US to next level. But nope! People here are hellbent on blaming other states for everything wrong in Pakistan. This kind of worldview is not productive.

Pakistan needs to stop being a regional player and broaden the scope of its foreign policy, if it wants to be noticed in major events. Otherwise our relevance will really shrink to our society and neighbors.


Oh yes! US have lost a lot of credibility; that is why it was invited in a global Islamic counter-terrorism summit and awarded highest protocol in the heart of Islamic bloc. And 50+ states recorded their attendance for the same event. An event where Pakistan was completely overshadowed...

Sometimes I wonder if you live in lalaland or suffer from a condition.

World doesn't gravitate around Pakistan and CPEC. Please wakeup.

Well put bro. Unfortunately most Pakistanis have a very limited view of the world confined to only local issues. This is a serious handicap when it comes to making decisions on foreign policy matters.