Washington: US President Donald Trump will host Pakistan Army chief Asim Munir for lunch at the White House Wednesday.
“The President has lunch with the Chief of Army Staff of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” an advisory issued by the White House said.
The lunch will take place at 1 pm (local time) in the Cabinet Room of the White House.
Trump had cut short his trip to Kananaskis, Canada, for the G7 Leaders’ Summit, and he returned to Washington Tuesday morning amid escalating tensions in the Middle East with the latest Israel-Iran conflict.
The White House’s invitation to Munir is being projected by officials in Islamabad as a major diplomatic win, according to the Dawn newspaper.
Field Marshal Munir, who was elevated to Pakistan’s rare five-star rank last month in the first such promotion since Ayub Khan in 1959, during his US trip urged India to engage with Pakistan “as a civilised nation,” rather than “attempting to impose regional hegemony”, the paper reported.
Speaking to members of the Pakistani American community Monday evening, he rejected that Pakistan was behind the terrorist attack in Pahalgam.
Munir accused India of seeking to establish a dangerous “new normal” of “violating international borders”, which he said Pakistan had “forcefully rejected”, according to the newspaper.
Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after the Pahalgam terror attack, with India carrying out precision strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir May 7.
The on-ground hostilities from the Indian and Pakistan sides that lasted for four days ended with an understanding of stopping the military actions following talks between the directors general of military operations of both sides May 10.
Munir’s interaction with the e Pakistani American community at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington’s Georgetown neighbourhood drew a large crowd, the paper said.
However, protesters aligned with the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party of former prime minister Imran Khan demonstrated outside, calling for democratic reforms and the release of their jailed leaders.
Munir also addressed the broader regional landscape, declaring Pakistan’s “clear and strong” support for Iran in its war with Israel while also backing US efforts to de-escalate the situation.
“We want this war to end immediately,” he said.
One of the most consequential developments during Munir’s visit, however, has been Pakistan’s strengthened counterterrorism partnership with the United States, particularly against the Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K) group, the paper said.
Gen Michael Kurilla, head of US Central Command, recently described Pakistan as a “phenomenal partner” in the fight against ISIS-K, praising Islamabad’s operations along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
Gen Kurilla revealed to the House Armed Services Committee that Pakistani operations, supported by US intelligence, had killed dozens of IS-K militants and captured multiple high-value individuals, including Mohammad Sharifullah, one of the masterminds of the Abbey Gate bombing in Kabul that killed 13 American troops.
“The first person Munir called was me,” Gen Kurilla said.
“He said, ‘I’ve caught him — ready to extradite him back to the US. Please tell the Secretary of Defence and the President.” Sharifullah was promptly extradited.
In a separate statement to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Kurilla noted that Pakistan had conducted “dozens of operations” to dismantle IS-K’s presence in the border regions and continues to play a pivotal role in countering terrorism in Central and South Asia.
PTI
