US President Donald Trump met Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir at the White House to discuss bilateral relations. Talking to reporters at the White House after signing several executive orders on Thursday, Trump said that a “great leader” is coming.
Trump said, “A great leader is actually coming to us, the Prime Minister of Pakistan and the field marshal of Pakistan. Field Marshal is a brilliant person and Prime Minister too. “This was the first formal bilateral conversation between Trump and Sharif, which took place six years after former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan met him in July 2019 during Trump’s first term.
Sharif has arrived in America to attend the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly and will address world leaders from the Mahasabha Manch on Friday.
According to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office of Pakistan (PMO), the meeting was held at the Oval Office at Washington DC, where Vice President JD Vance and External Affairs Minister Marco Rubio were also present. The statement said that the meeting was held in a “positive atmosphere”.
The presence of media persons was not allowed in this meeting. The meeting was to begin at 4:30 pm local time, but started about 30 minutes late due to President Trump’s busyness. It lasted for about an hour 20 minutes.
In the pictures after the meeting, both Prime Minister Sharif and Field Marshal Munir appeared to exchange ideas with Trump. Trump was also seen smiling while photographing collectively.
Sharif also met Trump on Tuesday in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session. At that time, the US President held a meeting with leaders of Arabs and other countries including Egypt, Indonesia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turki.
Earlier, ‘Radio Pakistan’ had reported that between the two, “regional and global situation is expected to be discussed along with mutual interests.”
Sharif reached the White House at around 4.52 pm on Thursday evening, where he was welcomed by senior administrative officials. The Pakistani Prime Minister’s convoy was seen coming out of the White House at around 6.18 pm.
When Sharif and Munir reached the White House, Trump signed several government orders and he was talking to journalists. Talking to reporters after signing government orders, Trump again said that he had stopped seven wars.
The US President has claimed on several occasions that he ended the recent struggle between India and Pakistan. He also reiterated this claim while addressing world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly.
On May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan have been agreed to “complete and immediate” after a conversation in Washington’s mediation, since he has reiterated about 50 times that they have helped in “reducing tension” between India and Pakistan. However, India has continuously denied intervention of any third party.
The US and Pakistan have also agreed to a trade agreement, under which the US government will impose 19 percent duty (tariff) on Pakistani imports and also help Washington in the development of Pakistan’s oil reserves.
