IN Pakistan, the sun sets and rises in the west. Political meteorologists saw a waning sunset in US-Pak relations in the US National Security Strategy (NSS) encyclical of 2017, issued during President Donald Trump’s first tenure. They notice a false sunrise in his latest NSS paper, issued in November 2025.

NSS of 2017 devoted a precious paragraph to the threats emanating from an unstable Pakistan. In part, it said: “The United States continues to face threats from transnational terrorists and militants operating from Pakistan… . The prospect of an Indo-Pakistani military conflict that could lead to a nuclear exchange remains a key concern requiring consistent diplomatic attention[.]” It says, the US seeks “a Pakistan that is not engaged in destabilising behaviour” and that it “will press Pakistan to intensify its counterterrorism efforts [and] encourage Pakistan to continue demonstrating that it is a responsible steward of its nuclear assets”.

In NSS 2025, there is no mention of Pakistan incubating terrorism nor of the Indo-Pakistan skirmish in May 2025, beyond a self-congratulatory pat on the back by Trump for settling in eight months “eight raging conflicts”, one of them being between Pakistan and India.

On India’s part, it has always been........

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