Amid trade tensions with India, the Trump administration has reportedly invited Pakistan’s Army chief Asim Munir to the United States again.
The visit is aimed at holding consultations with his American counterparts, reported Dawn quoting sources.
Pakistan General Munir had earlier visited Washington in June, amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir. During the visit, he was hosted by President Donald Trump for a lunch at the White House.
Following that, Pakistan tried to strengthen ties further by lobbying for a Nobel Peace Prize nomination for Trump.
At the time, Trump had claimed that he deserved Nobel Peace Prize for ending global conflicts. “I should have gotten it four or five times. They won’t give me a Nobel Peace Prize because they only give it to liberals,” he said.
Since Operation Sindoor, Trump has repeatedly claimed credit for helping establish a “ceasefire” between the two nuclear-armed nations despite strong rebuttal from New Delhi.
Trump recently announced a trade deal with Pakistan and offered US help in exploring what he described as “massive oil reserves” in the country.
The neighbouring country will soon receive its first-ever shipment of American crude oil, marking a strategic milestone for the South Asian country’s energy diversification efforts. The deal follows several months of negotiations that were triggered by US President Donald Trump’s decision in April to impose 29 per cent tariffs on Pakistani imports.
According to Usama Qureshi, Vice Chairman of Cnergyico, Pakistan’s largest oil refinery, the firm has finalised an agreement with global energy trader Vitol to import 1 million barrels of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) light crude from the United States. “This is a test spot cargo under our umbrella term agreement with Vitol. If it is commercially viable and available, we could import at least one cargo per month,” said Qureshi to Reuters, adding that the cargo is not intended for resale.