Hours after the announcement, the American leader revealed a “massive” oil exploration deal with Pakistan, saying that some day, India might have to buy oil from Islamabad.
Michael Kugelman, director of the Wilson Centre’s South Asia Institute, said the tables had turned in the US-Pakistan-India triangle.
US relations with Pakistan had experienced “unexpected resurgence”, Kugelman told This Week in Asia, adding that the sudden change signalled a serious challenge for New Delhi, given Washington and India had seen a deepening strategic partnership over the last two decades.
“There have been moments of crises, bumps on the road, but they have largely been surmountable, but in this case you are looking at a long period of a time, there have been repeated cases of US statements messaging actions that have concerned India a lot,” Kugelman said.
