Pakistan has severed ties with a number of high-profile lobbying firms with close links to the Trump administration, just months after undertaking a lobbying blitz that saw Islamabad spend a record $600,000 a month in an effort to gain access to the highest levels of the US government. According to lobbying disclosures filed with the US Department of Justice towards the end of 2025, Pakistan has terminated its relationship with Javelin Advisors, Seiden Law, Orchid Advisers, Squire Patton Boggs and Conscience Point Consulting.
Pakistan’s record increase in lobbying spending — unmatched at any time in recent decades — came before the Pahalgam terror attack in April and India’s military response to it in May, Operation Sindoor. Pakistan, which was outspending India 3-1 in lobbying the Trump administration in August last year, now spends less than India.
The five firms listed above were paid an estimated $450,000 a month by Pakistan to shape public opinion and influence powerful institutions such as the White House, Congress, agencies like the State Department in Islamabad’s favour. Several of these firms enjoyed close links to the Trump administration. Javelin Advisors, which was founded by President Donald Trump’s former bodyguard Keith Schiller and former Trump Organisation executive George Sorial, disclosed that it ceased lobbying for Pakistan in October 2025, for which it was paid $50,000 a month as a subcontractor for Seiden Law. In particular, Javelin Advisors publicly claimed credit for Pakistan’s growing closeness to the Trump administration.
“During the reporting period, registrant provided the Government of Pakistan with advisory services related to the drafting and execution of a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding covering the proposed development of critical minerals, advice concerning a resolution to the ongoing India-Pakistan conflict, as well as facilitated introductions to several members of Congress and the Executive Branch,” reads a final disclosure filed by Javelin Advisors in November last year regarding its work for Pakistan.
Seiden Law also disclosed that its $200,000 a month contract to lobby for Islamabad had ended in the same month. The firm was founded by lawyer Robert Seiden, who once served as a private investigator for Donald Trump’s political campaigns.
Pakistan’s record increase in lobbying spending to $600,000-a-month began just before Operation Sindoor and the India-Pakistan military conflict in May 2025. Squire Patton Boggs, Javelin Advisors, Seiden Law, Orchid Advisers and Conscience Point Consulting were hired to lobby for Pakistan in April and May 2025 prior to the outbreak of hostilities.
Former Pakistani diplomats explained that Islamabad’s decision to part ways with a number of lobbying firms may reflect a confidence that it has already secured the access to key members of the Trump administration.
“Some of that lobbying from Pakistan was probably undertaken as a response to the efforts of the Pakistani political opposition. In addition, Pakistan wanted a closer relationship with the Trump administration. Once they had that relationship, they realised that there is no pending legislation on the horizon for which they have to lobby Congress… And on the Trump side, they’ve got what they wanted, which was sufficient praise for Field Marshal Munir and Prime Minister Sharif,” argued Husain Haqqani, who served as Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US between 2008 and 2011.
“So in a way, it was a well timed intervention with the clear political objective of getting help in building a narrative. And having built that narrative, they’ve stepped back,” Haqqani added.
Pakistan now employs the services of just two lobbying firms, Qorvis LLC and Ervin Graves Strategy Group LLC. It spends a total of $175,000 a month, which is less than India’s $200,000 a month outlay on lobbying outfits. India’s lobbying outfits include SHW Partners LLC, which is helmed by former Trump aide Jason Miller, and Mercury Global Affairs.
Former Indian diplomats believe that the events of the last few months hold some lessons for New Delhi about the importance of setting narratives.
“In Washington, facts don’t travel alone. They always need a vehicle, and that vehicle is generally a lobbying firm which builds your narrative,” said Syed Akbaruddin, India’s former Permanent Representative to the UN,
“I think we were a little slow to start off and this was even the feeling when we sent these parliamentary delegations out after Operation Sindoor. A lot of people said, you have a good story to tell. However, there is a time factor which is always important in this sort of thing, and that perhaps was a challenging situation for us,” he added.
However, these former diplomats do not believe lobbying spending will alter the fundamental trajectory of America’s relationship with India and Pakistan.
“Pakistan has always been willing to invest in lobbying and that has been beneficial to them in the short term. But the big picture still remains that India is the American strategic partner of choice, and Pakistan is not,” admitted Haqqani.