When US President Donald Trump meets Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir over lunch on Wednesday, the Chinese will certainly be on the menu. Why else would the most powerful person in the world meet a man who rules by proxy a rogue state which most recently got pockmarked by Indian missiles in Operation Sindoor?

There is understandably great indignation in India’s mainstream and social media. It looks almost like a betrayal by a superpower which publicly proclaims India as a close ally, and with whom it shares core democratic values and the principles of a rules-based order.

Trump annoyed India when he jumped in during India’s reprisal to the Pahalgam massacre carried out by Pakistan-backed terrorists. He offered to play mediator, then re-hyphenated India and Pakistan despite the massive chasm between their economies and military might, and went on to praising Pakistan.

India could have shrugged it off as actions of a highly narcissistic, unstable mind. But the invitation to Munir takes it beyond diplomatic whim. There is most likely a pattern.

Should India be bothered?

India ought to be on its guard, but it does not need to be overly........

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