Washington: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir met with former U.S. President Donald Trump at the Oval Office on Friday, extending an invitation for him to visit Pakistan “at his convenience.” Reports also suggested that Sharif and Munir were made to wait before the meeting began, though this has not been officially confirmed.
According to an official statement from Pakistan, Prime Minister Sharif praised Trump for his “bold, courageous, and decisive leadership in facilitating the Pakistan-India ceasefire.” However, India has repeatedly dismissed any suggestion of foreign mediation in the 2021 ceasefire agreement that followed Operation Sindoor, a counter-strike targeting terror and military infrastructure inside Pakistan.
India has maintained that the agreement was a result of direct communication between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of both countries, without any external involvement. The ceasefire followed the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir on April 22, which left 26 civilians dead.
The Pakistani statement further claimed that Sharif also lauded Trump’s initiative to engage leaders from the Muslim world to help bring an “immediate end to the conflict in Gaza and restore peace in the Middle East.”
The meeting, according to Islamabad, also covered areas of bilateral cooperation. Discussions included expanding U.S. investment in Pakistan’s key sectors, as well as enhancing security and intelligence cooperation.
Sharif extended a “warm and cordial invitation” to Trump for an official visit to Pakistan, though the former U.S. president has yet to respond publicly.
