DOMINANT ANGLE
Islamabad is first and foremost measuring the security dimension of the agreement concluded on Friday between Washington, Copenhagen, and Nuuk, which locks out Russia and China's military and financial access to Greenland.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
Trump on Truth Social: "no US adversary will EVER have a base in Greenland... without our explicit written approval", an agreement described as "infinite lifetime".
- 02
The agreement is to be signed next week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, then ratified by the Danish and Greenlandic parliaments; Copenhagen claims it preserves Greenlandic sovereignty and self-determination.
- 03
Washington already had almost total overflight and basing rights through a 1951 treaty and a Space Force base; the new agreement falls short of Trump's initial plan to acquire the island.
ANALYSIS
Islamabad, September 19, 2026. Reports picked up by the Pakistani press on the US-Danish agreement for Greenland focus first on its military aspect, in a context of rivalry between major powers for the Arctic. On Friday, September 18, Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that "the United States of America has concluded an agreement with the Kingdom of Denmark and Greenland, which gives the United States permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland". He adds that "from now on, no US adversary will EVER be able to have a base in Greenland, have a military presence in Greenland, or make sensitive investments in Greenland, without our explicit written approval", describing the agreement as "infinite lifetime".
According to Reuters, cited by the local press, Washington already had almost total overflight and stationing rights in Greenland under a 1951 treaty, and the territory already hosts a Space Force base in its far northwest. The new agreement, these reports specify, nonetheless falls short of Donald Trump's stated ambition to simply acquire the island, an objective he had not ruled out pursuing by force against a territory of 56,000 inhabitants belonging to a NATO ally.
The office of Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, for its part, presented the agreement as recognizing "the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom as well as the right to self-determination of the Greenlandic people", and announced its signing next week, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, before ratification by the Danish and Greenlandic parliaments. Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen also welcomed a text recognizing, in his view, the interests of his territory.
For the Pakistani press, the key element remains the explicit exclusion of Russia and China from any base, military presence, or sensitive investment on the Arctic island, as well as Washington's announcement of immediate military reinforcement. The agreement ends months of pressure from Donald Trump on a NATO ally, without transferring sovereignty over the territory.
