Pakistani PM, Field Marshal wait "somewhere in the oval" for almost an hour

Washington, DC [US], September 26 (ANI): Ahead of his scheduled meeting with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal, US President Donald Trump addressed reporters from the Oval Office, saying, “they’re coming, and they may be in this room right now. I don’t know, because we’re late.”

“We have a great leader coming, the Prime Minister of Pakistan and the Field Marshal. Field Marshal is a very great guy, and so is the Prime Minister, both, and they’re coming, and they may be in this room right now,” Trump said.

According to the White House’s public schedule, Trump is set to engage in a closed-door session with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the Oval Office.

On September 23, Sharif also had an informal exchange with Trump following a meeting between the US President and leaders of eight Islamic-Arab countries, which also included Pakistan.

“Informal exchange followed the dialogue between President Trump and leaders of eight Islamic-Arab countries, including Pakistan. Prime Minister Shehbaz and Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar joined President Donald Trump in the discussion,” the Pakistan Foreign Minister stated in a post on X.

After years of strained relations, US-Pakistan ties began warming when Islamabad credited US President Donald Trump for his so-called peace intervention during the military conflict with India in May.

Trump claimed he helped broker a ceasefire between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, using trade and tariff threats–a claim that India has firmly denied.

Initially, Pakistan’s military leadership stated that the ceasefire was initiated following a direct proposal from its Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) to his Indian counterpart. However, Islamabad later shifted its stance, attributing the breakthrough to Washington’s efforts, even going so far as to nominate Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize.

The thaw continued in June when Trump welcomed Pakistan’s Army Chief, General Asim Munir, to the White House. The two leaders discussed a range of issues, including trade, economic development, and even cryptocurrency. Just a few weeks later, the Trump administration announced a new trade deal with Pakistan, alongside plans to help Islamabad tap into its “massive oil reserves.”

Munir again visited Washington in August, and during this visit, Pakistan secured a USD 500 million investment from the US, aimed at bolstering the country’s critical minerals sector.

Meanwhile, during the day, Trump signed an executive order approving a deal involving the popular video-sharing app TikTok, signalling a shift towards American ownership and control.

“This is interesting because I had a very good talk with President Xi, a lot of respect for him. Hopefully, he has a lot of respect for me, too. We talked about TikTok, and he gave us the go-ahead,” he said.

“You know, it’s run by American investors and American companies, great ones, great investors, the biggest. The young people really wanted this to happen,” he added.

Last week, Trump announced that Chinese President Xi Jinping had approved the TikTok deal for the video-sharing platform to continue operating in the US.

Trump mentioned that the US will have “tight control” over the app, emphasising that this is a “very good deal” for Washington. (ANI)

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