Trump-Munir meet embarrassing for Pak, its PM wasn't invited: Defence Secretary
Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh said that the White House meeting between US President Donald Trump and Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir was an embarrassment for Islamabad as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was not invited to the meeting.Munir's meeting with Trump marked a rare instance where a country's military chief was exclusively invited by a sitting US President. The meeting also signified the fact that the Pakistani military call the shots in the neighbouring country. advertisement"I don't have a great opinion on this (Trump-Munir meeting). It is surprising to me. It must be an embarrassment to any country that the military chief gets invited and the prime minister is nowhere to be seen. It's a very strange thing," he told news agency ANI in a podcast.
Wednesday's meeting between Trump and Munir featured Lt Gen Asim Malik, who also serves as Pakistan's national security advisor, and no other leader from the civilian government was present. This was the first such meeting between a high-ranking Pakistani military chief and a sitting US President since India's Operation Sindoor.According to the White House, Trump hosted Munir after he backed the US President to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for preventing what could have become a nuclear war between India and Pakistan.advertisementAlthough Trump has claimed several times that he brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, New Delhi has maintained that the Director General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of both countries agreed to an understanding ceasing all military hostilities and no third party was involved in mediation.Hours before the Trump-Munir meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a 35-minute phone call with Trump to firmly clarify that the ceasefire following the May 7-10 military standoff had been achieved through direct communication between the Indian and Pakistani militaries - not through any external mediation.Meanwhile, Singh said, "I have always found it strange that this gentleman sits on something called an investment facilitation council in Pakistan, which takes economic decisions. It's a weird, structurally imbalanced state where the military essentially has first claim on resources."The Defence Secretary underlined that India should continue to establish some level of deterrence towards Pakistan.Ties between the arch-rivals nosedived following the Pahalgam terror attack, India's diplomatic measures against Pakistan, including the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, and the four-day conflict between the nuclear-armed countries.New Delhi has made it clear that terror and talks cannot go together and has repeatedly flagged Islamabad's support for terror outfits operating on its soil and launching cross-border attacks.Must Watch
IN THIS STORY#Donald Trump#Pakistan#India-Pakistan
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