US President Donald Trump has announced that Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister of Pakistan, and a high-ranking military official known as a Field Marshal will be visiting the White House in the next few days. Both Sharif and the Field Marshal are “great leaders,” according to Trump, who told reporters at the Oval Office that their arrival would be a significant diplomatic engagement for his administration.
After Sharif’s attendance at the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York, the meeting will be held behind closed doors.
The United States’ ongoing military and political engagement with Pakistan is highlighted by this impending high-level meeting. Trump has indicated that talks may cover not only bilateral political concerns but also regional security and defense cooperation by emphasizing the involvement of the Field Marshal and the Prime Minister of Pakistan in combined talks. Trump’s word choice portrayed both individuals in a very positive light, so their stated attendance in the Oval Office bears symbolic weight.
Prime Minister Sharif and Trump had already spoken informally on September 23 after the US President’s meeting with the leaders of eight Islamic-Arab nations on the margins of the UNGA. Sharif took part in such talks, which covered more general geopolitical topics, with Senator Ishaq Dar, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister.
The specific agenda of Sharif’s next formal meeting with Trump has not yet been made public by the White House, although it is anticipated that topics such as Afghanistan, energy cooperation, counterterrorism, and regional stability will come up frequently.
Trump harshly criticized Russia’s actions in Ukraine during the same briefing, drawing attention to strains in international security. He charged Moscow for prolonging the conflict into its fourth year while achieving little real progress on the battlefield. Trump claimed that Russia’s enlarged offensive had harmed its economy and reputation abroad while failing to produce meaningful territorial gains. “They’re bombing the hell out of everything, and they’re picking up very little territory, if any,” he said, underscoring the destructive and ineffective nature of Putin’s military operation.
In addition to expressing annoyance about Russia’s standing internationally, the US president claimed that President Vladimir Putin had wasted credibility by waging protracted war. He maintained that the war would have finished much more quickly if the US had been in charge of such a protracted fight. Trump’s comments supported his long-held claim that Russia’s geopolitical errors have weakened its own stature and caused instability for both its allies and enemies.
Trump positioned his government as both hostile to enemies and hospitable to allies by contrasting harsh criticism of Russia with commendation for Pakistani leadership. As Pakistan wants greater interaction with the US in the face of evolving global power dynamics, the contrast reflects Washington’s efforts to reshape regional alignments, notably in South Asia.
