Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff, Field Marshal Asim Munir, is set to visit the United States this week to attend the 250th anniversary celebrations of the US Army in Washington DC, top sources said.
Following an invitation from Washington, sources said Munir has confirmed his presence at a military parade in the American capital on Saturday, which also happens to be US President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday. His visit comes amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan.
According to sources, Munir will also hold meetings with senior officials from the US State Department and the Pentagon during his visit. Neither Pakistan nor the US has confirmed the high-level military engagement.
The visit comes days after a top US general’s praise for Munir. At a congressional hearing this week, Gen Michael Kurilla, head of the US Central Command (CENTCOM), called Pakistan “a phenomenal partner in the counterterrorism world” and underscored Islamabad’s contributions to operations against ISIS-Khorasan.
Kurilla also noted that while US seeks a strong relationship with both India and Pakistan, it “cannot be a binary switch” in which relations with one preclude ties with the other.
Reacting to Munir’s rumoured visit, noted South Asia analyst Michael Kugelman remarked that a stopover at CENTCOM could be on the cards.
“He [Munir] and Gen Kurilla have met 3 times in less than 2 years. Kurilla praised him yesterday in Hill testimony. US-Pak officer-to-officer ties are generally strong,” Kugelman tweeted.
US BACK AT IT AGAIN
The general’s support of Pakistan, along with Munir’s upcoming visit, has signalled that the US is returning to its old balancing act. It wants to maintain close strategic ties with India while also keeping traditional ally Pakistan within its orbit to counter its growing closeness with China.
This recalibration is especially visible in the Trump administration’s statements hyphenating the two nuclear neighbours in the wake Operation Sindoor and the ceasefire understanding.
In recent weeks, Trump has repeatedly stated his willingness to mediate between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue, an offer that New Delhi has firmly turned down. He has called both nations great powers that the US wants to be friends with, a departure from his previous hawkish stance on Pakistan.
During his first term, Trump had lambasted Islamabad for harbouring terrorists and even threatened to cut off billions in aid for failing to act decisively against terror outfits on its soil.
BLOW TO INDIA’S OP SINDOOR DIPLOMACY?
Meanwhile, the US invitation to Munir has stirred sharp reactions in India. Congress communications head Jairam Ramesh called it “another huge diplomatic setback for India”.
“This is the man who spoke in such incendiary and provocative language just before the Pahalgam terror attacks. What is the US really up to? This is another huge diplomatic setback for India,” Ramesh said in an X post on Wednesday.
Following the Pahalgam terror attack, which claimed 26 lives and set Operation Sindoor into motion, India has ramped up diplomatic efforts to isolate Pakistan globally, dispatching all-party delegations to 33 foreign capitals and the European Union for anti-terror outreach.
PAK DIASPORA PROTESTS
Munir’s arrival in Washington is also being met with protests from the Pakistani diaspora. Former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has announced demonstrations in the US capital during the army chief’s visit.
“Let the White House know that any deal with this government is not acceptable to the people of Pakistan,” PTI’s Secretary for Overseas Affairs, Sajjad Burki, tweeted. Burki urged Pakistani-Americans to join a protest outside the Pakistan Embassy in Washington on June 14.
Pamphlets calling for mass mobilisation have been distributed in Pakistani-American neighbourhoods across the city, sources said.
