ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, has held a rare and extended meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House, the military said on Thursday, a high-level engagement that underscores Islamabad’s deepening security and economic dialogue with Washington.
This was the first time in many years that a Pakistani army chief was hosted by a sitting US president at the White House, highlighting Washington’s renewed interest in maintaining influence in South Asia as regional tensions flare.
According to a statement from Pakistan’s military, Munir met Trump at a luncheon in the Cabinet Room on Wednesday before visiting the Oval Office, accompanied by Pakistan’s National Security Adviser Lt Gen Asim Malik, who is also currently serving as the director general of the country’s premier intelligence agency, the ISI. On the US side, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Representative for Middle Eastern Affairs Steve Witkoff joined the discussions.
During the meeting, Munir conveyed Pakistan’s “deep appreciation” for Trump’s role in brokering a ceasefire that ended last month’s flare-up between nuclear-armed Pakistan and India — the most intense fighting between the neighbors in decades. From May 7-10, the two militaries exchanged drones, missiles and artillery fire before Trump announced a truce.
