In an opinion piece, Abdul Basit, a Research Fellow at RSIS said with US President-Elect Joe Biden due to be sworn in on January 20, Pakistani policymakers are watching the emerging contours of his Afghanistan policy which will shape the trajectory of US-Pakistan relations. A bipartisan consensus exists in Washington that there is no military solution to the war in Afghanistan and it should be terminated through a politically negotiated settlement, so a dramatic policy shift under Biden is unlikely. Beyond Afghanistan, Pakistani policymakers believe Biden’s South Asia policy won’t differ from Trump’s, with deeper engagement with India and transactional, Afghan-focused dealings with Pakistan. Consistent with the policy of reviving America’s place as a global leader, Biden could restore Washington’s position as a credible crisis mediator between India and Pakistan. 

…Abdul Basitis a Research Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore.