Donald Trump does it again. Posting on X, and without any prior official announcement by the parties involved, he declared a ceasefire between India and Pakistan: “After a long night of talks mediated by the United States, I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a COMPLETE AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE. Congratulations to both countries for showing good sense and great intelligence.” This was promptly denied by Indian Foreign Minister Vikram Misri, who said that the end of hostilities had been discussed between the Pakistani director general of military operations and his Indian counterpart without third-party mediation. The matter apparently unfolded as follows: the Americans received “credible intelligence” that something truly tragic was about to happen. At that point, Vice President JD Vance reportedly called Indian Prime Minister Modi while Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Islamabad, and the two countries were invited to find an ‘honorable solution’ for both. Pakistan, which apparently had waved the red flag of nuclear war as planned, called New Delhi, thanked the Americans, and immediately proclaimed victory. What exactly was won is unknown, but the fact remains: Pakistani army chief General Asim Munir, who disappeared from the radar while the Indians were bombing terrorist training camps and military posts, promoted himself to Field Marshal (the highest rank in the army, previously held in Pakistan only by the dictator Ayub Khan) and everyone seems happy in the ‘most dangerous country in the world’. Happy above all, it is said, with the two and a half billion dollars allocated to Pakistan by the International Monetary Fund during the days when they were fighting to respond to yet another act of terrorism committed against India by jihadis linked to Islamabad. Trump, however, who is not a man to be contradicted, added fuel to the fire. With another post, at the beginning: 'I am very proud of the strong and unwavering leadership of India and Pakistan, who had the strength, wisdom, and courage to fully understand that the time had come to end the current aggression that could have resulted in the death and destruction of so many people and things. Millions of innocent people could have lost their lives! Your courageous actions have made your legacy even greater. I am proud that the United States was able to help you reach this historic and heroic decision. Although it has not even been discussed, I will substantially increase trade with both of these great nations. In addition, I will work with you to see if, after ‘a thousand years’, a solution can be reached on Kashmir." And then at press conferences, first at the White House and then in Qatar, he declared that he had forced the two countries to make peace by blackmailing them with the threat of tariffs and enticing them with trade incentives, reaffirming his role and offering to mediate on the “Kashmir issue” that “has been going on for at least a thousand years.” Open laughter. Pakistan was in fact created on religious grounds in 1947. And since 1947, it has been claiming alleged rights over a state, Kashmir, which had chosen to remain independent despite being Muslim-majority and which decided to annex itself to India precisely following a Pakistani invasion. But posts and statements are only apparently boastful and ill-advised, the result of the American president's impetuous temperament, to put it mildly: they raise a couple of not insignificant issues that have made New Delhi's hair stand on end and which probably constitute the ‘pound of flesh’ claimed by Islamabad (in addition to IMF money) in order not to lose face completely during the conflict and end a war that worried the West. Trump's statements first establish the equivalence between India, a democracy based on the rule of law, and Pakistan, which, as Washington knows perfectly well, breeds and sponsors terrorists and is effectively ruled by a military dictatorship. It also internationalizes, as the Pakistanis have been demanding for years, the infamous ‘Kashmir issue’: which for New Delhi has not been an ‘issue’ since at least 2019, when Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh became union territories. For Kashmir, of which Pakistan still holds the invaded part after ceding a piece to China, Islamabad has fought (and lost) four wars and founded, nurtured, fed, and trained a plethora of terrorist groups for the sole purpose of striking India and making it “bleed with a thousand cuts.” India has maintained a crystal-clear position on Kashmir for years: it is an internal matter, given that Kashmir is an integral part of India, which must be resolved through bilateral talks at most. However, no talks are possible until Pakistan stops financing and arming terrorist groups. According to observers, Trump's newfound affection for Islamabad is part of the schizophrenic American strategy towards India in recent years: a necessary ally to contain China, but unwilling to align itself with Washington's policies without discussion. Keeping the sword of Damocles of Pakistani jihadis hanging over New Delhi's head would go hand in hand, they say, with having facilitated the Islamist coup in Bangladesh for the same purpose. And while Islamabad celebrates its victory, India announces a decisive change in its political-military doctrine: any future terrorist attack will be treated by New Delhi as a declaration of war. A curious side note: Ismail Royer, a former jihadist with ties to the Pakistani terrorist group Lashkar-e-Toiba, has been appointed to the Advisory Council of the White House Commission on Religious Freedom. According to police reports, Royer, who spent 13 years in prison in the US, was trained at a LeT camp in Pakistan in 2000 and was involved in attacks in Kashmir before becoming a key figure in the Virginia Jihad Network, an American group supporting Pakistani terrorists. Is this just a coincidence?