Pak PM Sharif, Field Marshal Munir meet Trump at White House, trade deal sealed

Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir met U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House, finalizing a new trade deal. Trump repeated his claim of easing Indo-Pak tensions as Pakistan nominated him for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize.

New York/Washington: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir met US President Donald Trump in the White House.

Sharif is in the US for the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly and will address the General Debate from the UNGA podium on Friday.

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He made a brief visit to the US capital from New York for the meeting with Trump on Thursday — the Pakistani PM’s first visit to the White House.

Munir, who was hosted by Trump for lunch at the White House early this summer, accompanied Sharif for the meeting, which was also attended by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Sharif met Trump in New York on the margins of the UNGA session on Tuesday when the US president held a multilateral meeting with leaders from Arab nations and others, including Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye.

Sharif arrived at the White House around 4.52 pm and was greeted by senior administration officials. Trump signed several executive orders and was speaking to reporters when Sharif and Munir arrived at the White House.

The Pakistani PM’s motorcade was seen leaving the White House around 6.18 pm, according to the White House pool. In his remarks to reporters after signing the executive orders, Trump again said that he has stopped seven wars.

“In fact, we have a great leader coming, the prime minister of Pakistan coming, and the field marshal (of) Pakistan. 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, I don’t know, because we’re late, and I said maybe they’d like to join. They actually may be somewhere in the beautiful Oval Office,” Trump said.

Trump has said on multiple occasions that he ended the recent conflict between India and Pakistan. He repeated the claim in his address to world leaders at the UNGA. Pakistan has nominated Trump for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize, in “recognition of his decisive diplomatic intervention and pivotal leadership during the recent India-Pakistan crisis”.

The last Pakistani prime minister to visit the White House was Imran Khan, who met Trump in July 2019 on an “official working visit”. Before him, Sharif’s brother and then Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif visited the White House in 2015.

The two countries have reached a trade agreement that entails a 19 per cent tariff on Pakistani imports and will allow Washington to help develop Pakistan’s oil reserves. US goods and services trade with Pakistan totalled an estimated USD 10.1 billion in 2024, up 6.3 per cent (USD 523.0 million) from 2023.

The US’ total goods trade (exports plus imports) with Pakistan was an estimated USD 7.2 billion in 2024. US goods exports to Pakistan in 2024 were USD 2.1 billion, up 3.3 per cent (USD 67.2 million) from 2023.

US goods imports from Pakistan in 2024 totalled USD 5.1 billion, up 4.8 per cent (USD 233.9 million) from 2023. The US goods trade deficit with Pakistan was USD 3 billion in 2024, a 5.9 per cent increase (USD 166.7 million) from 2023.