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NEW DELHI: Pakistan is believed to have hired China’s favoured lobbying firm — Brown Lloyd James — in the United States to build up support for its Kashmir case on the Capitol Hill . This is third big firm Islamabad has sought to engage in the past five months to lobby Washington, said sources.BLJ has run campaigns on behalf of the China-United Exchange Foundation, a non-profit with close ties with the Communist Party of China. While it’s still not known if China played a role in the Pakistan-BLJ deal, sources said, it has led to speculation if this was part of the Sino-Pak tango on India.Already, BLJ worldwide has started endorsing Pakistan on social media platforms like it did with Pakistan’s Ambassador to US Asad M Khan’s December 10 address. While few serving US lawmakers have been critical of Indian moves on Kashmir, New Delhi has so far received widespread support against Pakistan-sponsored crossborder terrorism The firm, which in the past ran campaigns for erstwhile Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi , runs campaign for Qatar and has a branch office in Doha. BLJ Worldwide is an international strategic consultancy founded by Peter Brown, specializing in public diplomacy, advocacy and communications. We help governments, corporations, NGOs, individuals, and other institutions navigate the complex worlds of international policymakers and opinion leaders, according to the firm’s website. Its clients include governments, Fortune 500 companies and individuals.But BLJ worldwide is not the only firm hired by Pakistan in the US during 2019, after Islamabad reportedly did not have any lobbying firm for six years. In July, Pakistan employed Holland & Knight to serve its interests in the US on Kashmir among other issues. The agreement coincided with Prime Minister Imran Khan ’s maiden visit to the US since assuming office. The lobbying team reportedly consists of ex-Congressman Tom Reynolds (representing Holland & Knight) and other former members of Congress, former senior administration officials, Capitol Hill veterans and other professional experts.Later in September, during Imran Khan’s UN visit, Pakistan hired Fenton PR. The International Humanitarian Foundation (IHF), which advocates for Pakistan, hired Fenton Communications to educate the US media and public about Kashmir.Houston-based IHF is headed by Sajjad Burki, US representative of Pakistan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf. It helped organise a rally in Houston on September 22 to protest the “Howdy Modi!” event. Fenton signed a $50,000 contract with the IHF on September 19 to work through September 30. There is no visible work of IHF in any other region of the world on any other issue and may have been registered before the Indian PM’s US visit.Through the 1990s and after 2000, Pakistan has hired several lobbyists in the US. Stephen Payne is believed to be the preeminent paid lobbyist for Pakistan in the US. Payne worked as a lobbyist for Pakistan to deliver a multibillion dollar US aid package and to remove US economic and military sanctions against Pakistan that had been in place for several years. In 2011, the FBI arrested Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai, a US citizen of Kashmiri origin, on charges of secretly lobbying for Pakistan and receiving illegal funding of over $4,000,000 from ISI.