As an Indian, I have always found the relationship between the United States and Pakistan somewhat difficult to understand.
The United States has spent decades providing Pakistan with military and economic assistance while repeatedly expressing concerns about terrorism and militant organisations operating from Pakistani territory. Pakistan, meanwhile, has remained “an important US partner” despite its complicated relationship with America’s strategic interests in the region.
Then there was September 11, 2001.
Al-Qaeda attacked the United States, killing almost 3,000 people. Osama bin Laden, the organisation’s founder and leader, eventually turned up in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Not in some remote mountainous region. He was living in a substantial compound in a military cantonment, approximately half a mile from Pakistan’s premier military academy and about 35 miles from Islamabad.
That discovery created enormous questions about Pakistan.
And now, 25 years after 9/11, Donald Trump is once again developing a close relationship with Pakistan and creating new complications.
Trump’s family has substantial financial interests in cryptocurrency and other businesses, while companies connected to his family are developing commercial relationships with Pakistani institutions. From an Indian perspective, that combination deserves considerably more scrutiny than it might receive if we looked at the relationship purely through an American lens.
Pakistan’s complicated relationship with the United States
The United States and Pakistan have never had a straightforward relationship.
After 9/11, Pakistan became “an important partner” in the US-led campaign against terrorism. According to the Congressional Research Service, Pakistan received more than $20 billion in US economic, security and humanitarian assistance and military reimbursements in the years following the attacks.
But the relationship was complicated by persistent US concerns about militant groups operating from Pakistani territory. The Congressional Research Service has documented allegations that successive Pakistani governments tolerated or supported some militant groups as proxies in conflicts with neighbouring countries. It also noted longstanding concerns about Pakistan’s security services distinguishing between groups they considered “good” and “bad.”
For an Indian reader, this history is particularly significant. India has experienced decades of terrorism and militant violence connected to organisations based in Pakistan. This is therefore not an abstract geopolitical disagreement for India. It is part of India’s security environment.
Then Osama bin Laden was found in Abbottabad
On May 2, 2011, US forces killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad. The location was extraordinary.
The compound was only about half a mile from Pakistan’s premier military academy. The city itself was a military cantonment, not an isolated location beyond the reach of the Pakistani state. The discovery immediately raised questions in Washington about what Pakistani authorities knew.
The Congressional Research Service described two broad possibilities: some degree of Pakistani complicity, or extraordinary incompetence on the part of Pakistan’s military and intelligence services. It also noted that the discovery severely damaged Pakistan’s credibility with Washington.
There is an important qualification here. The United States did not establish Pakistan’s leadership sheltered bin Laden, but we must ask how he lived there undetected. For an Indian reader, that question is particularly difficult to ignore.
The Trump-Pakistan relationship is taking a different form
Now we come to Donald Trump. Pakistan has been actively cultivating a relationship with the Trump administration.
The Washington Post has reported on Pakistan’s efforts to develop relationships with Trump’s personal and family networks, including through cryptocurrency, critical minerals and other areas of economic cooperation. One particularly notable relationship involves World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency company founded by members of the Trump family. Pakistan has pursued cooperation with the company in areas including cryptocurrency and digital finance. We might ordinarily describe it simply as business.
But there is a complication.
Donald Trump is not just your typical high profile billionaire entrepreneur – he is the President of the United States. The Washington Post reported that Trump made more than $1.4 billion from cryptocurrency-related ventures in 2025. More than $500 million came from World Liberty Financial, the crypto venture founded by Trump and his sons. That makes the question of conflicts of interest difficult to dismiss.
And then there is the Pakistan Army
There is another development that I find particularly noteworthy. On September 16, 2026, Reuters reported that US drone manufacturer Powerus had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Pakistan Army and received an initial order for unmanned aerial systems. The story becomes more interesting because Powerus is expected to merge with Aureus Greenway Holdings, a US-listed company backed by an investment fund associated with Donald Trump’s sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump.
The Trump brothers have said their investment is passive and that they were not involved in Powerus’s operations or contract negotiations. That explanation may well be correct. But from an Indian perspective, it is difficult not to notice the optics. A US defence-related company is doing business with the Pakistan Army. The company is connected through a forthcoming corporate merger to an investment vehicle backed by the US president’s sons and the transaction is taking place at a time when Washington and Islamabad are rebuilding their strategic relationship.
That doesn’t prove that anyone has done anything improper but it is exactly the kind of situation in which transparency matters.
This is where India comes into the picture
We cannot view the US-Pakistan relationship in isolation from India’s perspective. India and Pakistan remain nuclear-armed neighbours with a history of conflict. The relationship deteriorated sharply following the April 2025 terrorist attack in Pahalgam, which killed more than two dozen people. India accused Pakistan of supporting the militants, while Pakistan (as always) denied involvement. Against that background, India’s concern about closer US-Pakistan military and strategic cooperation is understandable.
Reuters reported in July 2025 that Trump’s renewed engagement with Pakistan had caused concern in New Delhi, particularly because India views Pakistan as a supporter of cross-border terrorism and worries that US military assistance could eventually be used against India.
While the United States has its own interests and it can legitimately decide that maintaining a relationship with Pakistan serves American objectives, India is equally entitled to ask what that relationship means for India’s security.
This isn’t just about Pakistan
There is an important broader issue here. Trump’s financial interests in cryptocurrency have already become a subject of controversy within the United States. His 2025 financial disclosure showed enormous income from crypto-related businesses. The Washington Post calculated the total at more than $1.4 billion.
The Associated Press reported that Trump’s crypto businesses generated nearly $1.2 billion in income in 2025, including more than $500 million from World Liberty Financial. This is not merely a political accusation from Trump’s opponents. It is documented financial information.
And the conflict-of-interest question has become significant enough that it has affected the debate over US cryptocurrency legislation. The Associated Press reported in September 2026 that Senate Democrats blocked a major cryptocurrency bill amid concerns about Trump’s personal financial interests in the industry. Trump had agreed to certain additional ethics provisions in an effort to advance the legislation.
Again, none of this establishes that Trump is using American foreign policy to enrich his family. But it establishes something more modest and more important: There is a genuine conflict-of-interest question.
Should India be concerned?
I think there are several separate questions here.
The first is about American interests.
Americans should ask whether the president’s private and family business interests could influence government policy.
The second is about Indian interests.
India should consider whether US engagement with Pakistan might undermine India’s security or let Pakistan deploy capabilities that could be directed at India.
The third is about Pakistan’s record.
The United States has to decide whether Pakistan’s strategic value justifies renewed military and economic engagement despite its complicated history with militant groups.
And the fourth is about transparency.
If a company linked to the president’s family does business with a foreign government or military, the public should know who benefits and whether policy is involved. These questions should not depend on whether the president is Donald Trump or someone else.
If Osama bin Laden was hiding in Pakistan, and Pakistan received US assistance for years, and Trump-linked companies are now doing business with Pakistan, doesn’t that amount to the United States rewarding a country that sheltered America’s most wanted terrorist?
The United States has its strategic reasons for maintaining relations with Pakistan.
Historically, Pakistan’s ties with militant organisations were complex. Washington questioned whether parts of the Pakistani establishment supported militant groups.
That history should not be forgotten simply because the relationship is currently improving.
Twenty-five years after the attacks, Osama bin Laden’s discovery in Pakistan remains one of the most uncomfortable chapters in the history of the US-Pakistan relationship.
The United States has every right to pursue its own strategic interests. Pakistan has every right to pursue closer relations with Washington. India has every right to assess those developments through the lens of its own national security and Americans have every right to demand transparency when their president’s family is doing business with foreign governments and companies whose interests intersect with US policy.
Enough said…
References below
- Washington Post, Pakistan’s Washington charm offensive: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/08/20/pakistan-trump-india-munir-oil
- Reuters, Powerus and Pakistan Army : https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/us-drone-maker-powerus-signs-pakistan-army-mou-gets-initial-order-2026-09-16/
- Washington Post, Trump’s $1.4 billion crypto income: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/07/02/trump-made-14-billion-crypto-last-year-heres-what-we-know/
- Washington Post, bin Laden’s Abbottabad refuge: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/pakistan-stresses-that-raid-was-a-us-mission/2011/05/02/AFd0eeXF_story.html
- Congressional Research Service, Pakistan-US relations: https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/R/PDF/R44034/R44034.4.pdf
- Congressional Research Service, Osama bin Laden’s Death: Implications and Considerations: https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/R/PDF/R41809/R41809.5.pdf