‘Somehow stop India’: Cash-strapped Pakistan burned thousands of dollars lobbying, begging US during May 2025 strikes
Following Indian military strikes on terror camps, Pakistan launched an urgent and costly lobbying blitz in Washington D.C. between May 7 and May 10. The nation's diplomats and a hired lobbying firm made over 60 points of contact with US officials, seeking intervention to halt India's actions. This diplomatic scramble occurred as Pakistan privately expressed panic over the strikes.
Indian military action after the terror attack in Pahalgam pushed Pakistan into a hurried diplomatic scramble, with Islamabad urgently reaching out to the US to press New Delhi to pause its deep strikes inside Pakistani territory. As per a TOI report, official filings now show that as Indian jets struck terror headquarters, Pakistan activated a wide and costly lobbying network in Washington to seek American intervention.
Lobbying blitz after Operation Sindoor
Filings under the US Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) reveal that Pakistan launched an intense lobbying campaign in Washington between May 7 and May 10. This was the period after the Indian Air Force struck the headquarters of Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen, and before Pakistan’s director general of military operations, Major General Kashif Abdullah, called his Indian counterpart Lt General Rajiv Ghai.
During these four days, Pakistani diplomats, including the ambassador and defence attaché, made more than 60 points of contact with senior US officials and media organisations. These included meetings, phone calls and emails, all aimed at seeking international intervention.
The details come from filings by Squire Patton Boggs, the US lobbying firm hired by Pakistan, which is legally required to disclose the nature of its engagements to the US Department of Justice.
Pleas to “somehow halt” Indian action
Most of the outreach happened as Operation Sindoor was unfolding and before India suspended its military operations. According to the records, Pakistan repeatedly asked US officials to step in and “somehow halt” India’s retaliatory strikes.
Publicly, Islamabad tried to play down the impact of the Indian action. Privately, however, the filings point to visible panic at senior levels as Indian strikes landed on terror infrastructure.
Lobbying push began just after Pahalgam terror attack
An NDTV report adds that Pakistan had expanded its lobbying presence in the US just after the Pahalgam terror attack. Filings show that Javelin Advisors LLC was registered in April to represent Pakistan under a formal consulting agreement dated April 24, just two days after Pakistan-based terrorists killed 26 civilians in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam.
According to the disclosure cited by NDTV, Javelin charged a monthly fee of $50,000. The firm said its work involved communicating Pakistan’s positions on regional and global issues to the US executive branch, Congress and the public. The listed issues included the Jammu and Kashmir dispute and Pakistan-India relations.
Minerals pitch alongside diplomacy
The NDTV report also notes that the filings refer to a framework document circulated in May proposing cooperation between Pakistan and the US on rare earth minerals and critical metals. The document outlined possible collaboration across exploration, mining, processing and integration into global supply chains, and mentioned an indicative commercial value of up to $1 trillion.