Billion-dollar gamble in Pakistan’s minefield


Destruction in Quetta, the capital of the Balochistan Province of Pakistan, on Feb 10, 2026. — Asim Hafeez/The New York Times

STANDING in the Oval Office in Septem­ber, Pakistan’s army chief gave US President Donald Trump a wooden box filled with minerals and gems – a nod to the lucrative deals US companies could make in Pakistan, where mining has long been dominated by China.

“A very great guy,” Trump said of the Pakistani commander, Field Marshal Asim Munir.

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