WASHINGTON; A potential high-level meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and former U.S. President Donald Trump is being lined up for September 25, coinciding with the UN General Assembly session in New York.
According to diplomatic sources, the meeting is being shaped after extensive consultations with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, especially in the wake of the recent Israeli attack on Qatar.
Before arriving in the United States, Prime Minister Sharif will make key stopovers in Riyadh to meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and in London for talks with the British Prime Minister, underscoring Islamabad’s wider diplomatic push ahead of the UNGA. He will then travel to New York with a delegation including Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir.
The Trump-Sharif talks in Washington are expected to focus on the Middle East crisis, the humanitarian fallout of Pakistan’s devastating floods, and broader regional challenges. While both Pakistan’s UN mission and its embassy in Washington have refrained from confirming the meeting, Riyadh and Doha are said to strongly support the initiative.
Now, the challenge is framed by the security of Muslim states and the escalating conflict in the Middle East. In recent days, Washington has again begun to describe Pakistan as a “strong ally,” raising the prospect of a new chapter in a relationship long defined by both cooperation and mistrust.
