A White House lunch for Pakistan’s army chief

Background

Munir, promoted to field marshal after the May 2025 conflict with India, arrived in Washington on 15 June for a five-day visit that included meetings with senior officials. The visit came days after Israel began strikes on Iran, Pakistan's western neighbour^1,2.

What happened

On 18 June Trump hosted Munir for a closed-door lunch in the Cabinet Room¹. It was described as the first time a sitting US president had hosted Pakistan's army chief at the White House unaccompanied by senior civilian officials^1,3. Afterwards Trump told reporters he had been honoured to meet Munir, thanked him for helping to avoid war with India, and said that Iran had been discussed, noting that Pakistan knew Iran well^2,3.

Munir returned to the United States in August, attending the change of command at US Central Command in Tampa and meeting the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine⁴. On 11 August, during that visit, the State Department designated the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) - which had claimed the March 2025 hijacking of the Jaffar Express train in Balochistan - as a foreign terrorist organisation, adding its suicide wing, the Majeed Brigade, as an alias⁵. Pakistan had long sought such action.

Why it mattered

The lunch illustrated where Washington saw power in Pakistan and symbolised the dramatic warming of relations since the May ceasefire. In Pakistan it was welcomed by the government and military; critics, including supporters of the imprisoned Imran Khan, saw it as American endorsement of the army's dominance. In India it was received with dismay.

Legacy

Munir became a frequent interlocutor of the Trump administration, accompanying Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to the Oval Office in September 2025 and later playing a central role in Pakistan's mediation between the United States and Iran in 2026.