Trump will visit Pakistan, say reports; Islamabad replies, 'no clue'
What's the story
United States President Donald Trump is planning a visit to Pakistan in September, two local news channels have reported. If confirmed, this would be the first presidential visit to the South Asian country since 2006. The last US president to visit Pakistan was George W Bush, who visited in March of that year.
Official stance
Spokesperson for Pakistan's foreign office said they were unaware
However, when approached by Reuters, a spokesperson for Pakistan's foreign office said they were unaware of any such visit. The reports also suggested that Trump would be visiting India after his stop in Islamabad. This potential trip comes after a recent meeting between Pakistan's army chief, Asim Munir, and President Trump. It was the first time a US president had hosted a military chief from Pakistan who was also not the country's head of state.
Diplomatic dynamics
What Trump said about meeting Munir
At the time, Trump stated that his primary motive for meeting Munir was to thank him for his part in defusing the May dispute between Pakistan and India. "The reason I had him here was that I wanted to thank him for not going into the war [with India]. And I want to thank PM [Narendra] Modi as well, who just left a few days ago," said Trump.
Criticism voiced
I stopped the war: Trump
The following day, he reiterated that he was the one who had helped broker a ceasefire between the two nuclear powers. "I stopped the war between Pakistan and India. This man [Munir] was extremely influential in stopping it from the Pakistan side, Modi from the India side, and others," he said. While Pakistan has acknowledged the US assistance, India has repeatedly insisted that the truce arose only from bilateral dialogue.