President Donald Trump will have Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, for lunch at the White House on Wednesday, in a major and unexpected diplomatic move.
According to the president’s official schedule, the meeting will take place in the Cabinet Room and is not open to the media.
In the ongoing diplomatic struggle that followed last month’s air battle with India, which pushed South Asia perilously near to nuclear war, this development also represents a significant victory for Pakistan. Field Marshal is on an official five-day visit to the United States.
During his journey, Field Marshal Munir, who was promoted to Pakistan’s coveted five-star rank last month the first since Ayub Khan in 1959 has garnered media attention for calling on India to treat Pakistan “as a civilized nation” instead of trying to impose regional hegemony.
He vehemently denied Indian allegations that Pakistan was responsible for the terrorist assault in Pahalgam, calling it a front for cross-border hostility, when addressing members of the Pakistani American community on Monday night.
He charged that India was attempting to create a perilous “new normal” of crossing international borders, which Pakistan had vehemently opposed.
He declared, “We would prefer to embrace martyrdom than to accept this dishonor.”
Munir also spoke about the larger regional context in his speech, stating that Pakistan supports US efforts to de-escalate the conflict while simultaneously expressing its “clear and strong” support for Iran in its fight with Israel. He declared, “We want this war to end immediately.”
However, Pakistan’s enhanced counterterrorism cooperation with the United States, especially against the Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K) organization, has been one of the most significant developments during Munir’s visit.
US Central Command chief Gen. Michael Kurilla praised Islamabad’s actions along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border on Tuesday, calling Pakistan a “phenomenal partner” in the war against IS-K.
Gen. Kurilla told the House Armed Services Committee that US-backed Pakistani operations had killed dozens of IS-K militants and apprehended several high-value individuals, including Mohammad Sharifullah, one of the masterminds behind the Kabul Abbey Gate bombing 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.
Pakistan “has been a phenomenal partner in the counterterrorism world,” according to Gen. Kurilla, despite the country’s security concerns, which include more than 1,000 terrorist assaults in the past year alone that killed 2,500 civilians and 700 security officers.
In his address to the diaspora, Gen. Munir emphasized Pakistan’s appreciation for the contribution Pakistanis abroad make to the country’s economy. He brushed off worries about brain drain, calling it a “brain gain.”
He refrained from openly discussing domestic politics, and Munir reprimanded a guest who tried to disparage former prime minister Imran Khan.
The general retorted that democratic nations must defend the right to dissent when another guest made the lighthearted suggestion that political opponents might need their “software fixed.”
Both the army commander and the diaspora made renewed commitments to work toward a more resilient and powerful Pakistan as the event came to a close.
Source: Dawn and other media outlets
