US ties with India, Pakistan different in nature: Antony Blinken at HTLS 2026
Washington's relations with New Delhi and Islamabad are fundamentally different, former US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday, calling India a "global force".Speaking at the 24th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit (HTLS), Blinken also acknowledged India's right to self-defence against terrorist threats, while backing diplomatic efforts to prevent escalation. Follow HT Leadership Summit 2026 LIVE updates"Our relationship, our interests, the things that we are working on together...
the places where we sometimes have differences are really global in nature," he said, in conversation with Ambassador Jawed Ashraf, Chairman, ITPO. America's ties with Pakistan, by contrast, are regional, he said. "There are still going to be, you know, important areas where we need to do things with them— for example when it comes to counterterrorism," said Blinken, who was the top US diplomat under President Joe Biden.ALSO READ | India-US ties ‘essential’ to this century, but Washington must not expect India to follow it: Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken at HTLSHis remarks come against the backdrop of perceived closeness between President Donald Trump's administration and the Pakistani leadership.
Trump has claimed he brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan after four days of fighting in May 2025, and Islamabad has since recommended him for the Nobel Peace Prize. New Delhi has maintained that the ceasefire was reached at Islamabad's request.Blinken also went back into history, detailing Washington's past dealings with Pakistan, touching upon the Cold War and post-9/11.
AfghanistanDuring the Cold War, including the Soviet-Afghan war of the 1980s, the US armed Afghan fighters via Pakistan against Soviet forces. After the September 11 attacks carried out by al Qaeda under Osama bin Laden, Washington again turned to Pakistan for the war in Afghanistan. On both occasions, the US extended military and financial aid to Islamabad.Blinken also suggested that, in such a backdrop, the US may have dealt with Pakistan with "less of a critical hand", including on matters of civil-military balance.
He added, however, that it was not for the US to decide on behalf of Pakistani citizens about their society and power structure."We can be very supportive, but these are fundamentally decisions that Pakistanis make," he said of the country, which is no stranger to military rule.Blinken also backed a "zero-tolerance policy on terrorism". "And that means we have to have respect for, of course, India's right to defend itself, to support when it's attacked..." he said.In the same breath, he stressed the "diplomatic efforts that go into dealing with these challenges", and the need to prevent escalation "given the obvious fact that the weaponry that each possesses would be so dangerous not only to each country but potentially to countries far beyond"—a reference to India and Pakistan's nuclear arsenals.
