Washington: Pakistan has given lobby firm Erwin Graves Strategies a two-year contract worth $50,000 per month after previously scaling down a lobbying blitz it had initiated last year.
According to a filing on May 1 by Erwin Graves with the US Department of Justice, the firm will assist the Pakistani embassy in Washington with its outreach with the US Congress, key agencies such as the State Department and Pentagon as well as think tanks and media organisations. In addition, the firm will help advance Pakistan’s efforts to pitch itself as an attractive investment destination for US firms, especially in the critical minerals sector, the filing said.
In the same filing made, Erwin Graves outlined the full scope of its work for the Pakistani embassy in Washington. These services range from reaching out to members of Congress serving on sensitive committees “with jurisdiction over foreign affairs, defence, trade, appropriations, and national security” to “positioning Pakistan as a constructive and reliable partner in areas including counterterrorism, regional stability, and democratic engagement.”
The lobbying firm said in its filling it will also support Pakistan’s efforts to revive the Defence Consultative Group (DCG) with the US government and will also respond to legislative and policy initiatives that could adversely impact Pakistan’s status as a major non-Nato ally.
This fresh contract comes even as Pakistan has scaled down its lobbying operation in Washington. HT reported in February that Pakistan had 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. Pakistan terminated its relationships with Javelin Advisors, Seiden Law, Orchid Advisers, Squire Patton Boggs and Conscience Point Consulting.
Pakistan’s record increase in lobbying spending came before the Pahalgam terror attacks in April 2025 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, was spending less than India as a result.
India had hired two lobbying firms to assist its outreach in Washington: SHW Partners and Mercury Public Affairs. The former is helmed by Jason Miller, a former Trump aide whose firm won a $150,000 a month contract in 2025 to represent India in Washington. The latter, which previously employed White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, won a $75,000 a month contract in 2025 for its services related to “public relations, communications, and government relations advice and services, including outreach to US media and government officials”.
