Not a single tweet on Pulwama attack from US President Trump; America’s dry support means little

New Delhi, Feb 15: US President Donald Trump has in the past blown hot-and-cold over Pakistan's support for terrorists despite taking help from the US and doing nothing to eliminate the menace.

He has also spoken in favour of India over the Afghanistan issue, asking New Delhi to play a bigger role in Afghanistan. For the experts, it was a deliberate move to put Islamabad under pressure.

It was thus expected that the president of the world's only superpower would come out speaking his mind on Twitter, the medium he trusts the most, after over 40 Indian jawans lost their lives in a horrendous terror attack in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, February 14.

It was afterall a massive opportunity for the US to pile on pressure on Islamabad on the question of counter terrorism. But to everyday's surprise, Trump did not pen a single tweet on the tragedy - the deadliest on the Indian armed forces.

The White House though made a routine statement asking Pakistan to immediately end "support" and "safe haven" to the terrorist groups and condemned the attack which is said to be conducted by Jaish-e-Mohammad led by Maulana Masood Azhar.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said the attack "only strengthens our resolve to bolster counterterrorism cooperation and coordination between the United States and India".

Trump recalled Florida terror attack of 2018 but nothing about Pulwama

How much do these words mean for the US in reality? The fact that Trump did not spend a tweet over the attack gives quite a feeble impression about the resolve.

The president was rather seen commemorating the first anniversary of a terror attack that took place in a school in Florida killing at least 17, including students.

It is absolutely fine for the chief executive of a country to do so but given the fact that the US has a lot at stake in its foreign policy, zero mention of the Pulwama killings raises a question mark over the Trump administration's seriousness in dealing with matters abroad.

Trump's inconsistent policies has bolstered Pakistan's confidence

In December, Trump had sought help from Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on the question of peace in Afghanistan and it shows how much inconsistent and weak the foundations of the current American leadership are.

Such weakness has made even states like Pakistan, which has friends in China and Russia now, grow in their confidence and it doesn't give two hoots to what the maverick Trump does.

This virtually puts India alone in its fight against terrorism. Given the fact that China and Pakistan will continue to back each other, even on the question of terrorism, and old ally Russia not really eager to get into the mess (the BRICS summit of 2016 is a point to remember), New Delhi has only Washington to look forward to in its battle against terrorism.

But the way Trump has discredited the administration and shown little interest of substance in putting things in the right perspective, India has a lot to worry about and needs to take care of its own interests all by itself.