'Pakistan PM Not Invited': Top Bureaucrat Says Trump-Munir Meeting 'Embarrassing' For Sharif

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Last Updated:June 20, 2025, 22:39 IST

No civilian leader from the Pakistani government was present during the talks between US President Donald Trump and General Asim Munir at the White House

AI-generated image depicting a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir.

Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh described the recent meeting between former US President Donald Trump and Pakistan’s Army Chief General Asim Munir as “an embarrassment" for Islamabad, pointing out that Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was not invited to the event.

Trump on Wednesday hosted General Munir for a lunch meeting at the White House, marking the first time a US president has welcomed the military leader without senior Pakistani civilian officials present.

“I don’t have any great opinion on this, but it’s surprising. It must be an embarrassment to any country that the military chief gets invited and the prime minister is nowhere to be seen. It’s a very strange thing," Singh said without taking any names.

No civilian leader from the Pakistani government was present at the talks — a detail that has drawn sharp reactions from diplomatic and strategic circles.

The meeting is considered unusual, marking a rare occasion where a sitting US President hosted a foreign military chief in such a direct manner. The move has once again underscored the influence of the military establishment in Pakistan’s governance.

During the lunch meeting, Trump praised General Munir for his role in preventing an escalation of conflict between India and Pakistan, saying, “Reason I had him here was I wanted to thank him for not going into the war and ending it…"

Trump also said he was “honoured to meet Munir."

Speaking to the media in the Oval Office, Trump said the “two very smart leaders" of India and Pakistan had decided not to pursue a war that could have turned nuclear.

Notably, for the first time in weeks, Trump did not claim credit for de-escalating the military conflict that followed India’s Operation Sindoor, launched in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people.

Earlier, while Trump repeatedly claimed credit for mediating peace between the two nations, New Delhi has consistently refuted any third-party role.

India maintains that the ceasefire following the May 7–10 military standoff was a result of direct military-level communication between the Director Generals of Military Operations (DGMOs) of both countries.

Just hours before the Trump-Munir meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Trump in a 35-minute phone call, reiterating that the de-escalation was achieved through bilateral channels, without external intervention.

Commenting further on Pakistan’s internal dynamics, Singh said: “I have always found it strange that this gentleman sits on something called an investment facilitation council in Pakistan, which takes economic decisions. It’s a weird, structurally imbalanced state where the military essentially has first claim on resources."

The Defence Secretary also said India must continue to maintain a credible deterrence posture against Pakistan, amid ongoing tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

Ronit Singh

Ronit Singh, Senior Sub-Editor at News18.com, works with the India and Breaking News team. He has a keen focus on Indian politics and aims to cover unexplored angles. Ronit is an alumnus of Christ (Deemed to be...Read More

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