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Pakistani delegation to visit US, State Department confirms but doesn't reveal what's on agenda
US has confirmed that a Pakistani delegation is set to visit. Representational image/Reuters
A senior US State Department official on Tuesday (July 22) confirmed that a Pakistani delegation is scheduled to visit Washington for a bilateral meeting, but stopped short of saying whether the United States would play any role in resolving the long-standing tensions between India and Pakistan, particularly over Kashmir.
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce responded to a question at a press briefing about Donald Trump's past offer to mediate on Kashmir, an offer the US president had linked to his claim of having helped prevent a military conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
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'We have Pakistan who is going to be here for a bilat, and I'll participating in that, so I'm looking forward to that as well,' said Tammy Bruce.
The remarks came in response to a query that linked Trump's mediation offer with the United States' stated willingness to encourage direct communication between India and Pakistan on issues such as the Indus Water Treaty (IWT). The reporter asked whether contentious matters like Kashmir would also be on the agenda.
The upcoming bilateral talks follow a rare one-on-one lunch hosted by Trump for Pakistan's military chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, marking a significant moment in Washington-Islamabad ties.
Trump's claims on ceasefire and trade
Since May 10, when Trump took to social media to announce that India and Pakistan had agreed to a 'full and immediate' ceasefire after a 'long night' of talks mediated by the United States, he has repeatedly claimed credit for defusing the crisis.
He has also said on multiple occasions that he told the South Asian rivals that the United States would do a 'lot of trade' with them if they deescalated tensions.
India, however, has firmly denied any American involvement in the ceasefire. Officials in New Delhi have maintained that the agreement was reached bilaterally through direct communication between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two countries.
No talk of mediation, says India
A long-anticipated meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Trump on the sidelines of the G7 Leaders' Summit in Kananaskis, Canada, in June did not materialise as Trump cut short his visit and returned to Washington.
However, before Modi concluded his own visit, the two leaders had a 35-minute telephonic conversation.
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India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, speaking from Kananaskis, said PM Modi clearly conveyed to Trump that at 'no point' during the days following Operation Sindoor was there any discussion, at any level, on an India-US trade deal or any proposal for mediation by the US between India and Pakistan.
The upcoming bilateral meeting in Washington is expected to cover a wide range of regional and strategic issues, though it remains unclear whether Kashmir will feature in the discussions.
With inputs from PTI
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