巴基斯坦押注特朗普：斡旋美伊、重塑全球角色

The Roosevelt Hotel with its Italian Renaissance style facade used to be a happening spot, a choice location when Hollywood visited New York. But ladies and gentlemen, we're not here to indulge in fantasy. The reality is, last year it was a migrant center. Today it's shuttered. And yet its owners say it's worth a billion dollars and they've called in help from this guy. Oh, and who are the owners? That would be the Pakistan government.

It is one of Pakistan's most valuable foreign assets. In February 2026, Steve Witkoff, one of Trump's closest advisors, helped broker a deal for the US government and Pakistan to jointly redevelop the hotel. But recent deals between the Trump administration and Pakistan have extended beyond the hospitality scene. Markets are waiting for Islamabad as delegations from Iran and the United States prepare for talks in Pakistan, the ceasefire remains fragile.

Pakistan has done something impossible. Pakistan brought the US and Iran together on one table after 50 years. This was a deliberate attempt by Pakistan to make itself a global player. That peace hasn't lasted. The ceasefire between the US and Iran has collapsed. But Pakistan hopes its role as mediator has more longevity. So this has really been Pakistan's shining moment. So how did Pakistan become one of Trump's favorite diplomatic partners and can it capitalize on it?

I would like to nominate this great president for Nobel Peace Prize. That's Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. In the past year or so, Pakistan has found its way into Trump's inner circle. I have two very, very important people in my life, an Indian and a Pakistani. The Indian is my wife and the Pakistani is Field Marshal Munir. There's several occasions where we have seen President Trump refer to the Army Chief and the Prime Minister as his good friends.

The key character in Pakistan is Field Marshal Asim Munir. He's the most powerful army chief that Pakistan has had almost since its founding. We have sacrificed a lot for the creation of this country. He was the first Army chief to be invited to the White House for lunch. This was shocking for a number of reasons, mostly because the US president in the past has tried to deal with the Pakistani prime minister who's elected by the people.

And this was to support democracy within Pakistan. Trump really didn't care about that so much. He wanted to talk to the most powerful person in Pakistan, which is Asim Munir. It was also surprising because for years, Pakistan's global image has been shaped by crisis. Devastating floods, energy shortages, security concerns, and repeated IMF bailouts. Take a look at this. Foreign direct investment into the country has remained mostly stagnant for the past two decades.

Pakistan is heavily reliant on external financing. It's currently the fourth-largest IMF debtor behind only Argentina, Ukraine and Egypt. Pakistan is continually looking for IMF support, so a good relationship with the US would help it get loans from the IMF and from other Western partners potentially. Traditionally, the country has largely relied on financing from another key partner, China. China invested lots of money in Pakistan to build out what they call the China-Pakistan economic corridor.

Amid US-China tension, Pakistan's been able to juggle both sides. If you look at Pakistan's military purchases, for instance, it has both American fighter jets and Chinese fighter jets in its fleet. US-Pakistan relations weren't always this good. From the US side, there had been distrust of Pakistan because the history that most Americans know of Pakistan in recent times was that Osama Bin Laden was of course located and killed in a compound in Pakistan.

Now more on the escalation in the India-Pakistan conflict. The tipping point came in May 2025. India's saying it conducted targeted military strikes against Pakistan, which says it shot down five Indian jets in retaliation. The four-day conflict ended in a ceasefire, which Trump quickly claimed credit for. We helped a lot. I said, "Come on, we're going to do a lot of trade with you guys. Let's stop it. Let's stop it.

If you stop it, we'll do a trade. If you don't stop it, we're not going to do any trade." And all of a sudden they said, "I think we're going to stop." The two parties involved in the conflict reacted somewhat differently to Trump's claims. The Indians said no external actors mediated the ceasefire. They rejected Trump's claims outright. On the other hand - Pakistan was extremely generous and effusive in its praise of President Trump.

Prime Minister of Pakistan said yesterday that President Trump could have saved 35 million lives by getting us to stop fighting. Other areas have seen the benefit of these warming relationships, particularly in business and of course that hotel in Men in Black. By the end of 2025, Pakistan and the US had signed a memorandum of understanding where they would be investing in Pakistan's critical minerals. When the Army Chief visited the White House with the Prime Minister, he took this briefcase full of minerals and gems that he showed the president.

And it doesn't end there. Pakistan's also struck up a relationship with World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency venture co-founded by Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Zachary Witkoff, son of Trump advisor Steve Witkoff. And they signed a memorandum of understanding to allow the company to do business within the country. Pakistan's now the world's third-largest crypto market with over 40 million crypto users. And chumming up to Trump's inner circle helped build trust between Washington and Islamabad.

Trust, Pakistan has leveraged. Hold that thought, till after this. I feel like a pawn in a big game of chess. Uncover more at bloomberg.com/videos. We started to see countries, Pakistan, Turkey, Qatar, all offering to help start a diplomatic process between the US and Iran. There was a lot of distrust on both sides. Pakistan ultimately emerged as the key mediator, not only thanks to its relationship with the Trump administration, but also with Iran.

Pakistan's relationship with Iran has been a relationship that has gone stronger over years. It shares a massive border with Iran. So it's trusted by Iran. There is a vast majority of the Shia population that's in Pakistan, which is the prominent religion in Iran. The ties are not just political or neighborly, it's also the religion and culture that brings them together. In the early stages of the talks, Pakistan was literally passing messages back and forth between Iran and the US.

Then in April 2026... You hadn't seen a figure as high-level as the vice president of the US sitting down with top officials from Iran, top counterparts from Iran in decades. Pakistan really rolled out the red carpet for both negotiating teams. The press center had these cups of coffee that were labeled on them brewed for peace. The talks took place in another luxury hotel, this time in Islamabad. The government requisitioned the entire hotel just for these talks, and they were really trying to use the opportunity to show the world a different side of Pakistan.

For Pakistan, a permanent ceasefire between the US and Iran could lead to much needed economic gains. If the sanctions got lifted from Iran, it means more trade in the region. If there are better relations between the US and Iran, it could pave the way for a long-stalled gas pipeline between Iran and Pakistan that would help alleviate Pakistan's energy woes. Those hopes will have to wait, as the US and Iran return to conflict.

Pakistan also has challenges on its border with Afghanistan. Pakistan has been in conflict with Afghanistan since beginning of this year. Both countries keep attacking each other. There's definitely been a shift in how Pakistan is perceived globally. The question is how long will it last? It's a truism of diplomacy that countries do not have friends. They have interests. Trump can be very fickle. He could like you one