Austrian military analyst Tom Cooper has dismissed the recent thaw in US-Pakistan relations following Operation Sindoor as “silly,” suggesting Islamabad is playing to US President Donald Trump’s ego to cast him as a peacemaker.
Speaking to ANI, Cooper said Pakistan’s outreach — including a high-profile visit by Army Chief Gen. Asim Munir to Washington — is designed to let Trump claim credit for averting a nuclear showdown with India.
“This is actually a statement for the White House, so that Trump can present himself as a peace broker and say, ‘Pakistanis have threatened to attack India with nuclear weapons, and I prevented this from happening,’” Cooper said.
During his US visit, Munir warned that Pakistan could use nuclear weapons to “take down India and half the world” if faced with an existential threat. He also vowed to defend Islamabad’s water rights “at all costs” if India went ahead with dam projects on the Indus River, and repeated his claim that Kashmir is Pakistan’s “jugular vein.”
Cooper said Pakistan’s nuclear threats are a recurring bluff.
“Since April, India has crossed several of these red zones. Pakistan has turned out to be incapable of doing what it is announcing,” he said, adding that the White House-Islamabad dynamic in recent months has resembled “two little kids talking about whose father is more powerful.”
The analyst accused Washington of ignoring Pakistan’s terror links and history of proliferation.
“The USA, just like all the rest, has a memory of the fish regarding Pakistan’s involvement in terrorism and reselling nuclear-related technology to rogue nations,” he said.
He claimed US officials are well aware of Pakistan’s “jihad import-export business” yet continue to treat it as a key non-NATO ally. While he does not expect Trump to intervene directly for Pakistan in a conflict with India, Cooper believes Washington will keep providing indirect support — from modern weaponry to training.
“The more Pakistan is sweet-talking Trump, the better for Pakistan. The more support Trump is going to provide — indirect support, never direct support,” he said.
Pakistan’s recent charm offensive has even spilt into what Cooper called “crypto diplomacy,” with its crypto council signing a letter of intent with a Trump-backed venture, World Liberty Financial.
India has pushed back sharply against Munir’s remarks. The Ministry of External Affairs called them “nuclear sabre-rattling” and a sign of “irresponsibility” in a country where “the military is hand-in-glove with terrorist groups.”
– Ends
With inputs from ANI
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