US President Donald Trump met Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief Asim Munir at the White House on Friday, discussing regional security,
counter-terrorism cooperation, and other bilateral issues. In July 2019, then-Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan visited Washington to meet President Trump, who had previously accused Pakistan of misleading the US despite receiving billions in aid and labelled the country a "safe haven" for terrorists. "The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!" Trump had said in a post on January 1, 2018. A year later, on November 19, Trump had said, "We no longer pay Pakistan the $Billions because they would take our money and do nothing for us, Bin Laden being a prime example, Afghanistan being another. They were just one of many countries that take from the United States without giving anything in return. That's ending!" During President Joe Biden's tenure, Pakistan was largely sidelined, with no direct phone calls or White House invitations extended to its prime ministers. Since returning to office for a second term in January, there has been a dramatic and unexpected shift in the Pakistan-US relationship. In June, Trump even held an unusual one-on-one meeting with Army Chief Asim Munir at the White House.
Trump welcomed Shehbaz and Munir on Friday, calling them "great leaders" before the meeting. "In fact, we have a great leader coming, the prime minister of Pakistan coming, and the Field Marshal (of) Pakistan. Field Marshal is a very great guy, and so is the prime minister, both. They're coming" Trump said.
The meeting lasted about an hour and 20 minutes in the Oval Office, attended by Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Photos showed the trio exchanging views, with Trump giving his signature thumbs-up during a group photo.
Shehbaz, the first Pakistani prime minister to visit the White House in six years, described Trump as a "man of peace" for his "sincere efforts" to end conflicts around the globe and lauded his "courageous and decisive" leadership in facilitating a ceasefire between Pakistan and India, according to a statement from the PM Office.
Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan agreed to a "full and immediate" ceasefire after a "long night" of talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated his claim nearly 50 times that he "helped settle" the tensions between India and Pakistan.
India has been consistently maintaining that the understanding on cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was reached following direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations of the two militaries.
India has categorically dismissed the claims. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made it clear in Parliament that no leader of any country asked India to stop Operation Sindoor. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has also said there was no third-party intervention in bringing about a ceasefire with Pakistan during Operation Sindoor.
