CHINA/INDIA/MIKE POMPEO/PAKISTAN/TRUMP PEOPLE:“US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will talk tough on terrorism to Pakistan and attempt to strengthen his country’s links with India during what is likely to be a difficult and potentially testing visit to South Asia beginning Wednesday [9-5-18]. The visit comes as the US tilts away from Pakistan, while deepening strategic and economic ties with India in a bid to counter China’s increasing influence in the ‘Indo-Pacific’ region — Pompeo’s preferred term for the area that stretches from the west coast of the United States to the west coast of India. Pompeo will have to perform a tricky balancing act, analysts say, as Pakistan is fast falling within China’s sphere of influence and its arch-rival India is smarting over a series of trade threats and insults from President Donald Trump…Central to Pompeo’s visit will be his first meeting with newly elected Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. Pompeo, who is scheduled to visit Islamabad for several hours on Wednesday, September 5, before moving on to Delhi, is due to meet Khan for high-level talks. Few expect the meeting to be smooth.”
–Bard Wilkinson, “Pompeo to tackle Pakistan on terrorism, tighten US links with India,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, September 4, 2018 10:38 pm