Pak PM Shehbaz Sharif likely to meet Trump; talks expected on UNGA sidelines - Report

Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif is likely to meet United States president Donald Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, reported Geo News, citing sources.Along with Sharif, Pakistani army chief Asim Munir, who is Pakistan's de facto decision maker, will reportedly be attending the meeting with Trump.Munir has been actively accompanying Sharif to bilateral talks since his elevation to the exalted and rare-conferred rank of Field Marshal, following India's Operation Sindoor, which dismantled key terror infrastructure in Bahawalpur and Muridke, deep inside Pakistani territory.The reported meeting, if it takes place, will come months after Trump held a luncheon meeting with Munir at the White House. In his remarks to the media, Trump said he was "honoured" to meet Munir and that he discussed with the army chief the situation arising out of Iran-Israel conflict, amid speculation that Washington was looking at using Pakistani military bases in case it decides to launch attacks on Iran.In a statement, the Pakistani Army said the US President expressed keen interest in forging a "mutually beneficial" trade partnership with Pakistan based on long-term strategic convergence and shared interests. Trump was accompanied at the meeting by secretary of state Marco Rubio and US Special Representative for the Middle East Steve Witkoff. Munir was joined in by Pakistan national security adviser and spy agency ISI chief Lt Gen Asim Malik.Ahead of his meeting with Trump, Munir reportedly pitched for Nobel Peace Prize for the president for "preventing a nuclear war" between India and Pakistan.Later, Pakistan's military chief embarrassed himself and his country by inadvertently admitting where it currently stands vis-a-vis India. "India is shining a Mercedes coming on a highway like Ferrari, but we are a dump truck full of gravel. If the truck hits the car, who is going to be the loser?" Munir reportedly said at a Pakistani community event in Florida.Munir's "crude analogy" as he himself put it, drew peals of laughter on social media for its description of Pakistan, with jokes about the dump truck breaking down or overturning even before it got the Merc.Munir also talked up the Pakistani diaspora borrowing freely from former Indian prime minister Vajpayee quote that immigrating to US is not a "brain drain but a brain gain." With strong partnerships growing with the US, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and China, and with 64% of its population being dynamic youth, Pakistan's future is bright, he said.