President Donald Trump is redefining the foreign and trade policies of the United States, with a focus on business, profits, tariffs, and deals. While the US-Ukraine deal on critical minerals is still hanging in limbo, Senior Bureau Official (SBO) for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, Eric Meyer, will soon be leading an interagency delegation to Islamabad for attending the Pakistan Minerals Investment Forum to advance US interests in the critical minerals sector.
As per a note from the US Department of State shared on Saturday, Meyer will be in Islamabad from April 8 to 10, and will meet senior Pakistani officials to expand opportunities for American businesses in Pakistan and promote the deepening of economic ties between the two countries.
SBO Meyer will also engage with senior officials to highlight the importance of continued collaboration on counterterrorism.
The US-Pakistan ties, largely based on a security-centric focus till now, may be transformed as Islamabad aims to draw the Trump administration with stakes in its critical mineral reserves and other business ventures.
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The upcoming visit of Meyer will be a sigh of relief for Pakistan, which is worried about Washington’s diminished interest in the country since the withdrawal of US forces from bordering Afghanistan that shrank Islamabad’s strategic relevance, besides Washington’s focus shifting to the Indo-Pacific.
US investment in its mineral sector could provide Pakistan a much-needed economic boost, create jobs, and enhance infrastructure development.
Pakistan has vast mineral wealth like the Reko Diq mine in Balochistan, while Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are said to have lithium reserves, critical for renewable energy technologies.
However, in order to get US investment, Pakistan must prove its worth as a reliable partner and make some changes in its foreign policy by bringing down its reliance on China.
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The importance of minerals has changed geopolitics in the last few years as the demand for minerals like lithium, cobalt, and copper, used in batteries, will jump significantly in the coming years.
Critical minerals are extremely important for the US military, as its drones, robots, and weapons will run on batteries. Unlike the traditional engines, electric vehicles operate silently and don’t leave a thermal signature. All this fits perfectly in the US plans to have a non-tactical fleet that runs entirely on batteries, and hence critical minerals rank high in US national security priorities.
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China currently dominates critical mineral supply chains and commands global battery cell production with access to mines across Asia, Latin America, and Africa.
Pakistan’s economy is struggling, and its foreign debt has skyrocketed, and hence its critical minerals offer it an avenue for growth.