As Pakistan shook hands with Washington over a lucrative trade deal, gunships circled over Bajaur. One promised growth, the other delivered grief.
On Wednesday night, Pakistan and the United States finalised what both sides called a “landmark” trade agreement. The deal promises lower tariffs, expanded market access, and most notably, joint development of Pakistan’s untapped oil reserves. Former President Donald Trump celebrated the deal on his platform Truth Social, suggesting that American firms might soon help Pakistan export oil, even to India.
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb called it a “win-win.” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked Trump for his “leadership.” And for Pakistan’s struggling economy, the agreement—focused on energy, tech, and investment- offers a beacon of hope.
But while government officials were celebrating in Washington, Bajaur, a tribal district along the Afghan border, was under siege.
Bajaur Under Fire
At dawn on Tuesday, military helicopters roared across the skies of Tehsil Loe Mamund in Bajaur. Artillery followed. By day’s end, three civilians, including a 12-year-old boy and a young girl, were dead. A strict curfew confined thousands of residents to their homes. The army had launched Operation Sarbakaf to target alleged militants. Protests erupted as terrified residents gathered at Umeri Chowk holding Qurans, demanding peace.
Bajaur isn’t new to conflict. Located in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal belt, it has been the site of more than 20 military operations over the past two decades. The region borders Afghanistan’s Kunar province and remains strategically significant, not only for security, but also for its untapped mineral and energy resources.
And therein lies the contradiction.
The Cost of Economic Realignment
The US-Pakistan trade deal is more than an economic partnership. It’s a geopolitical pivot. Washington, wary of China’s growing dominance in South Asia, has sought to regain influence in Pakistan, designated a “major non-NATO ally.” For Islamabad, the deal offers a chance to reduce reliance on Beijing, attract US capital, and rebrand its global image.
But this economic realignment demands territorial stability, particularly in areas rich in minerals and oil, like Bajaur, Waziristan, and parts of Balochistan.
Trump’s talk of developing Pakistan’s “massive oil reserves” may sound abstract, but those reserves exist in some of the most militarized and marginalized regions of the country. The overlap between resource potential and conflict zones is not accidental. It is the very pattern of extractive politics.
Who Was Consulted?
The federal government called it a breakthrough. But Parliament was never consulted, nor were the provincial governments or local representatives. Former Senate chairman Raza Rabbani reminded the nation that Article 172 of the Constitution guarantees provinces a 50% share of resources like oil and minerals. He called for an immediate meeting of the Council of Common Interests.
In Bajaur, Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ali Amin Gandapur condemned the operation, saying it further eroded “the trust between the people and the army.” His cabinet has now moved to revoke the KP Actions Ordinance, which gave sweeping powers to security forces during such operations.
Why is it that a foreign president announces an oil pact affecting tribal lands before the people who live there even hear of it?
The Two Pakistans
There are, it seems, two Pakistans.
- In one, finance ministers negotiate in D.C., and the state dreams of cryptocurrency zones, energy corridors, and trade surpluses.
- In the other, villages are shelled, protests are silenced, and the same people expected to defend Pakistan’s borders are left out of its future.
Deals, even well-meaning ones, can only succeed if they are backed by democratic accountability and inclusive governance. Bajaur’s people are not enemies of progress—but they are too often its victims.
What Progress, For Whom?
The US-Pakistan trade deal may indeed generate revenue, jobs, and growth. But it also reveals the realpolitik driving foreign policy today. Washington gains a partner in a strategic region. Islamabad gains leverage in global capital markets. But if the people most affected, tribal communities, provincial governments, ordinary citizens, remain disenfranchised, then the deal becomes not a symbol of growth, but of exclusion.
If Pakistan’s leadership wants to present the country as stable, modern, and investment-ready, then it must act like it, not just abroad, but at home. That means no more deals signed in elite boardrooms while bombs fall in tribal homes.
As the world applauds trade diplomacy, Bajaur tells another story, a story not of oil and opportunity, but of loss, silence, and the enduring gap between promises made and promises kept.
