Former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has hailed a meeting due today between United States President Donald Trump and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir as a “positive step” in bilateral relations between the US and Pakistan.
In a significant and unanticipated diplomatic development, Trump is scheduled to host the army chief for lunch at the White House. The meeting, listed on the president’s official schedule, will be held in the Cabinet Room and closed to the press.
The lunch is being seen in Islamabad as a major diplomatic win, particularly because earlier this month, an Indian delegation met US Vice President JD Vance and Indian media depicted it as a diplomatic success, contrasting it with the apparent inability of the Pakistani delegation to secure a similar meeting. Gen Munir’s invitation to the White House is now being projected by officials in Islamabad as a diplomatic counterpoint to those narratives.
Website Roll Call, describing itself as the “source for news on Capitol Hill”, said the lunch was due for 1pm (10pm PKT).
Addressing the development, the PPP chairman said: “Today, Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir will meet with Donald Trump over lunch, a positive step in Pakistan-US relations. Especially given the president’s role in mediating a ceasefire.
“Following Pakistan’s decisive victory in the recent five-day war, India has regrettably resisted all efforts toward a permanent peace, including US-led diplomacy.”He said Pakistan neither sought conflict nor was it “desperate for dialogue”. However, Bilawal said Pakistan recognised that peace was in the interest of both nations.
“There is no military solution to our disputes. India’s weaponisation of water, repression in Kashmir, and politicisation of terrorism are unsustainable positions. The path forward lies in honest diplomacy — not denial.”
Meanwhile, Michael Kugelman, a Washington-based South Asia analyst, emphasised that the meeting should not be seen only in the context of the Iran-Israel conflict.“There’s been US-Pak engagement on critical minerals, crypto, counterterrorism. Trump takes a deep personal interest in all of these. And Munir is empowered to talk about it all. Also, Kashmir.”
This development also marks a notable success for Pakistan in the ongoing diplomatic contest that followed last month’s air combat with India — a confrontation that brought South Asia dangerously close to nuclear conflict. Munir is in the US on a five-day official visit.
