Amid US-Pakistan thaw, two key challenges: Iran and China

Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan’s service chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, has held an unprecedented one-on-one meeting with United States President Donald Trump astatine the White House, wherever the 2 leaders spoke for much than 2 hours, according to the Pakistani military.

In a connection issued connected Thursday by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing, the meeting, primitively scheduled for 1 hour, was held successful the Cabinet Room implicit luncheon and past continued successful the Oval Office.

After Wednesday’s meeting, the ISPR said, Munir expressed “deep appreciation” for Trump’s efforts successful facilitating a ceasefire betwixt India and Pakistan aft a four-day struggle successful May betwixt the 2 nuclear-armed neighbours. According to the ISPR, Trump welcomed Pakistan’s practice against “terrorism”.

While the White House did not merchandise immoderate connection connected the meeting, which was held down closed doors and without quality media photograph opportunities, Trump spoke to reporters concisely aft his talks with Munir. He thanked the service main and said helium was “honoured to conscionable him”.

Yet amid the bonhomie and the committedness of a crisp uptick successful relations aft years of hostility betwixt Washington and Islamabad, Trump besides referred to the ongoing subject struggle betwixt Israel and Iran, which the US president has said his state mightiness join.

The Pakistanis, Trump said, “know Iran precise well, amended than most”, adding that they are “not happy”.

For Pakistan, analysts said, that remark underscored however the reset successful ties with the US that Islamabad desperately seeks volition beryllium tested by 2 cardinal challenges. Iran and the existent situation with Israel volition unit Pakistan into a diplomatic balancing act, they said. And Islamabad’s adjacent relations with China could likewise propulsion Pakistan successful conflicting directions.

What did Trump and Munir speech about?

According to the ISPR, Munir spoke to Trump astir a scope of areas wherever the 2 nations could fortify cooperation, including “economic development, mines and minerals, artificial intelligence, energy, cryptocurrency, and emerging technologies”.

But the Pakistani subject conceded that the 2 leaders besides held “detailed discussions” connected the escalating tensions betwixt Iran and Israel with some Munir and Trump – according to Islamabad – emphasising the request for a peaceful resolution.

Munir was accompanied by Pakistan’s nationalist information adviser, Lieutenant General Asim Malik, who besides heads the country’s premier quality agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

On the American side, Trump was joined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the president’s apical negotiator successful the Middle East, Steve Witkoff.

Marvin Weinbaum, a elder chap astatine the Middle East Institute (MEI), said the deficiency of a media beingness during the luncheon could beryllium interpreted arsenic suggesting that “the quality of the speech was specified that neither enactment wanted photograph opportunities”. Weinbaum told Al Jazeera that neither broadside apt wanted to uncover overmuch astir “what was discussed, though my work is it was possibly the US wanting to cognize astir Pakistan’s relation connected what follows successful Iran during this ongoing situation”.

Later connected Wednesday evening, Munir attended a meal hosted by the Pakistani embassy with astir 3 twelve figures from deliberation tanks, argumentation institutions and diplomatic circles. Al Jazeera spoke to respective participants, who each requested anonymity to sermon what Munir said astatine the dinner.

One subordinate said Munir did not divulge specifics from his gathering with Trump but helium remarked that the speech was “fantastic and could not person gone immoderate better”. Munir added, according to this person, that Pakistan’s relations with the erstwhile medication of President Joe Biden had been “among the worst” historically.

Another attendee told Al Jazeera that Munir said the US “knows what it needs to bash regarding Iran” and reiterated that Pakistan’s presumption is that “every struggle is resolvable done dialog and diplomacy”.

‘Significant upswing’

For the moment, experts said, the gathering represents a large summation for Pakistan successful its bid to amended ties with the US.

Pakistan has been a adjacent US state since gaining independency successful 1947. They worked intimately unneurotic successful Afghanistan aft the Soviet penetration successful 1979 and past again aft the US penetration of Afghanistan pursuing the 9/11 attacks.

While the US has provided much than $30bn successful assistance successful the past 2 decades to Pakistan, it has repeatedly accused Islamabad of “duplicity” and of not being a reliable information partner.

Pakistan, successful turn, has argued that Washington perpetually demands it “do more” without afloat acknowledging the losses and instability Pakistan has suffered owed to determination violence.

Elizabeth Threlkeld, manager of the South Asia Program astatine the Stimson Center successful Washington, DC, said Munir’s sojourn marks a “significant upswing” successful US-Pakistan ties nether the Trump administration.

“Given President Trump’s cardinal relation successful shaping overseas argumentation and his penchant for idiosyncratic relationships, this sojourn has allowed Field Marshal Munir to solidify a rapport built during the caller crisis,” she told Al Jazeera.

Sahar Khan, a Washington, DC-based information argumentation expert, said that portion the gathering was significant, it doesn’t mean the 2 countries are “now friends”. However, it does bespeak a “thaw successful the relationship”.

She added that though Trump is unpredictable, Pakistan should see striking a woody with him to forestall unrealistic demands regarding determination issues.

“For now, Munir’s connection to the Trump medication is, instrumentality the clip to recognize Pakistan and halt viewing it done the lens of India, China oregon Afghanistan,” she said.

Making that connection stick, though, won’t beryllium easy, analysts said.

China, the existent strategical dilemma

China remains Pakistan’s astir captious partner, with whom it enjoys heavy economic, strategical and subject ties. But simultaneously, implicit the past 3 decades, Beijing’s emergence arsenic a planetary superpower has made it Washington’s main rival.

Muhammad Faisal, a South Asia information researcher and China adept astatine the University of Technology successful Sydney, said managing ties with some powers volition trial Islamabad’s committedness to a argumentation of “no-camp politics”.

China has invested $62bn successful the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a ample infrastructure task connecting occidental China to the Arabian Sea via Pakistan.

On the subject front, Pakistan procures much than 80 percent of its weaponry from China, and immoderate of those products, peculiarly Chinese jets and missiles, showcased their worthy successful the caller struggle with India.

“In the agelong run, some [China and the US] are important for Pakistan successful their ain right,” Faisal told Al Jazeera. And portion the US and China mightiness each privation Islamabad connected their side, the information that Pakistan is sought aft by some has its ain advantage. It “gives Islamabad sizeable diplomatic abstraction to grow practice with some Beijing and Washington”, helium said.

The Iran challenge

Iran, presently nether an aggravated Israeli battle that has targeted cardinal infrastructure and elder subject and atomic figures, presents different delicate situation for Pakistan.

Field Marshal Asim Munir held a gathering with Major General Mohammad Bagheri, main of the General Staff of the Iranian military, past month. Bagheri was killed connected June 13, 2025, successful an Israeli aerial strike. [Handout/Inter-Services Public Relations]

Analysts argued that Pakistan’s proximity and ties to Tehran presumption it arsenic a imaginable mediator betwixt the US and Iran.

“It is successful Pakistan’s involvement to play a mediating role. It cannot spend different adversary connected its occidental border, fixed its interior challenges,” Khan said.

Last month, Munir travelled to Iran on with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. During the visit, helium met Major General Mohammad Bagheri, main of General Staff of the Iranian military. In the archetypal question of strikes by Israel connected Friday, Bagheri was 1 of the respective subject officials who were killed.

Since the Israeli strikes began, Pakistan has powerfully defended Iran’s close to self-defence, describing the Israeli strikes arsenic violations of Iran’s territorial sovereignty and calling them “blatant provocations”.

Home to astir 250 cardinal people, Pakistan has a important Shia number – betwixt 15 percent and 20 percent of the colonisation – who look to Iran for spiritual leadership.

Faisal noted that these demographic and geographic realities would constrain Pakistan’s nationalist enactment for immoderate US subject intervention.

“Islamabad tin proceed to telephone for diplomacy and cessation of hostilities to incorporate the conflict. As a neighbour, instability successful Iran isn’t successful Pakistan’s interest,” helium said. At the aforesaid time, Faisal added, “a spike successful sectarian tensions [in Pakistan] tin trial interior security. Thus, Islamabad volition beryllium wary of pro-American nationalist posturing.”