Pakistan hopes to profit from Iran’s discomfiture

Pakistani rulers are taking duplicitous leaves out of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s playbook. They are whipping up the “Islamic solidarity” rhetoric to appease public frenzy at home and at the same time dealing with powers that are using their country for present and future purposes. Interestingly, the civilian leadership in Pakistan, like Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Defence Minister Khwaja Asif, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and even Pakistan People’s Party joint chief, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, are functioning as vocal front of the Pakistan Army, which is steering the country in every literal sense.

They are emitting signals of Muslim solidarity with Iran and a larger Muslim world, exactly as Erdogan has been doing all these years. But, like Erdogan and his coterie, the real rulers of Pakistan – Army Generals – are busy cutting deals that would suit their interests and fill coffers of both politicians and people in uniform. Pakistan’s self-decorated General, now Field Marshal, Syed Asim Munir is presently touring the United States. US President Donald Trump, who had to leave the crucial G7 meeting midway to attend to emergencies emanating from the Israel-Iran military confrontation, surprisingly invited Munir for a closed-door meeting at the White House.

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Besides Munir, some senior figures of US’s Central Command (Centcom) were at the gathering. This was a moment when the US was all but about to enter the battle fray alongside Israel to cripple Iranian nuclear facilities and enforce a regime change. Can Munir’s presence at the White House with Trump be similar to that of Afghan Mujahideen leaders (later Taliban) with then US President Ronald Reagan. Mujahideens were used by the US to checkmate the Soviets in Afghanistan; Pakistani Generals could be used to oust Ayatollahs in Iran. Before meeting Trump at the White House, Munir had addressed a gathering of overseas Pakistanis at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington.

It was supposed to be a formal interaction, but he used it to unleash the same vitriol that he had spewed a week before the Pahalgam terrorist attack in Kashmir. He also put on display the bravado that he believed the Pakistan military showed during the three-day battle with India. Amusingly, he was booed by a large number of Pakistan expatriates as he exited the hotel, wearing a bullet-proof jacket. A day later, he was at the White House. Gen Michael Kurilla, head of the US Central Command, described Pakistan as a “phenomenal partner” in the fight along the Afghanistan border and revealed that US and Pakistani intelligence agencies have been cooperating.

The Centcom chief’s comments reflect a growing acknowledgement in Washington that Pakistan remains pivotal to its regional designs. The service of their old paymaster – the US – is a territory that Pakistani Generals have developed as a craft. Meanwhile, they have begun to spin a web of deceit to camouflage their dealings from the public’s prying eyes. The civilian leadership has come in handy here. As soon as the Israeli attacks on Iran occurred, Pakistani politicians began to voice support for Iran. Spurred by their enthusiasm and believing that Pakistan is solidly standing behind them,

Iranian officials said Pakistan would nuke Israel had it dared to use its weapons of mass destruction against Iranians. Fearing reprisal and reprimand from the US, the Pakistanis swiftly rebutted this claim. As the conflict raged on and the Iranian side felt urgent need of assistance from neighbours, there has been none from Pakistan except bombastic statements in the press. Pakistan even didn’t commit to make efforts to seek military aid for Iran via the land route from Russia and China. Meanwhile, several Pakistani podcasters and media persons – most of them linked to the Pakistani Army – openly flayed Iran for working against Pakistani interests in the recent past. The tour of General Munir to the US and meeting with Trump is perhaps linked to deciding the “exact” role of Pakistan as the US and Israel are preparing the region for a postAyatollah Iran.

Pakistan will try to leverage its usability to the hilt. Pakistan is deeply under debt from China and the West (IMF). With its economy perpetually in the doldrums, it is forced to align its economic policies as per the diktats of its creditors. It is fast making moves to reorient its financial landscape to adjust modern digital tools like AI and various forms of crypto currencies and also a national bitcoin wallet. There is a formal Pakistan Crypto Council that is spearheaded by Bilal Bin Saqib, who is a special advisor to the Pakistan PM. He is known as a crypto czar in Pakistan.

Needless to say, he is very close to Gen Asim Munir, who was instrumental in getting him the plum post. He was in fact roped in soon after he completed his education at the London School of Economics. He has launched several initiatives to leverage surplus energy to attract crypto miners, blockchain companies, and AI firms. Announcements of these initiatives were interestingly made in May in Las Vegas in the presence of Trump’s son Eric and vice-president JD Vance. One of the announced plans involves repurposing three underutilised coal-powered plants, operating at just 15 per cent capacity, to power Bitcoin mining and AI operations. Saqib framed the initiative as a strategic use of Pakistan’s energy surplus, which stems from heavy infrastructure investments and reduced industrial activity.

This signals Pakistan’s newfound confidence in crypto without using taxpayer funds. This also involves creating a national Bitcoin wallet to hold seized digital assets as a “sovereign reserve.” This model aims to collect miner fees and global donations to build the reserve. It’s a spin-off of the model in practice in Texas, an energy-rich US province. In order to understand this simply, by redirecting underused power capacity, particularly from plants operating below potential, Pakistan seeks to convert a longstanding liability into a high-value asset, earning foreign currency through digital services and even storing Bitcoin in a national wallet. While this model flummoxes even economists, can it sustain the highly volatile political landscape of Pakistan?

It is very difficult to answer. Pakistan had in 2021 seen rampant protests across all cities, especially Karachi and Lahore, when as a part of reforms, the government had inflated electricity bills. At the same time, prices for other commodities were rising phenomenally as well. In order to quell such protests, the Pakistan Army and leadership had resorted to different kinds of charades, the last one being the terror attack in Pahalgam. Crypto currency, like several modern innovations, is also very unpopular in Pakistan. There have been several fatwas from clerics saying that crypto currency and Bitcoin are like the stock market and gambling and are devouring the lives of many youth. Crypto currency, reads one fatwa, is a Zionist conspiracy to foment love of easy money in youngsters.

However, with egging from the US, Islamabad seems intent to stymie opposition from any quarter and move ahead to chart a road hitherto unheard of in the Islamic Republic. Pakistani rulers, who otherwise portray themselves as religious icons and Gen Munir is among the leaders of the pack, have kept their ears and eyes immune to such fatwas. With over 40 million crypto users and increasing digital literacy, Pakistan aims to emerge not just as a destination for digital infrastructure but as a sovereign leader in blockchain innovation and use of digital currencies.

(The writer is a community Leader and Chairman of the Muslim Students Organisation of India. Views expressed are personal.)