Washington: US President Donald Trump hosted an extraordinary meeting in the Oval Office, welcoming both Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir. This public embrace marks a stunning departure from Trump’s long-standing characterisation of the country as a deceitful terrorist haven throughout his political career.
The White House was conspicuously silent following the unusual 80-minute engagement; it released no official statements, readouts, or details about the talks. In contrast, Islamabad was voluble, releasing a series of social media posts and photos that documented the closed-door meeting. According to the Pakistani government’s posts, Trump and Sharif discussed steps for enhancing cooperation on regional security and counter-terrorism. Sharif reportedly thanked Trump for his open
support of Pakistan’s role in counter-terrorism and stressed the need to increase security and intelligence cooperation further. Sharif also used the opportunity to invite US companies to invest in Pakistan’s energy, IT, agriculture, mines, and resources sectors, and extended an invitation to Trump to visit Pakistan at his convenience.
The visit followed Sharif’s highly flattering address to the UN General Assembly, where he described Trump as a champion of peace. Sharif went on to announce that Pakistan had officially nominated the US President for the Nobel Peace Prize for his outstanding contribution to promoting peace in South Asia following the conflict with India. Sharif backed Trump's repeated claims that he mediated the ceasefire between India and Pakistan, a claim which New Delhi has repeatedly rejected.
Pakistan's rare earth wealth claim
According to a report, Pakistani leadership had flashed glimpses of its purported rare earth mineral wealth during a meeting with Trump, so that they can worm its way back into Washington's good books. Pakistan has long spoken of its vast untapped oil, gas and mineral ores, mostly in insurgency-hit Balochistan and also in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. While none of the mineral deposits is commercially proven or quantified, Pakistan’s leadership showcased the baubles to the US President to highlight collaboration and exploration bids it signed with a private US firm earlier this month.