Pakistan prime minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday will meet Donald Trump on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session in New York, in his first direct meeting with the US President since the recent escalation with India.
During his visit to US, Sharif will also join a crucial meeting with "select Muslim leaders" to exchange his views on regional and international security, according to a report in Dawn. Trump will be present at the meeting.
Sharif is expected to use his visit — and his meeting with Islamic leaders — to launch a diplomatic offensive against both India and Israel.
According to the Pakistan Foreign Office, Sharif will strongly raise the Kashmir issue during the UNGA session, as part of Islamabad’s long-standing effort to internationalise the matter — something New Delhi has consistently maintained is an internal affair.
He will also "draw attention of the international community" to the "grave crisis in Gaza" and seek "decisive action to end the suffering of the Palestinian people,” the FO said.
The focus of Sharif's visit will be on his meeting with the Muslim leaders, which follows close on the heels of Pakistan signing a landmark defence pact with Saudi Arabia. The pact states that "any aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both". It is part of Islamabad's push to establish an "Islamic Nato" to rally Muslim nations in the region.
Trump's presence at the meeting with Muslim leaders will also be significant since it follows major developments in the Middle East.
Earlier in September, Israel targeted Hamas leadership in Qatar, killing five members. The attack left Trump red-faced since US officials were "informed too late to stop the strike".
The bold strike also prompted Muslim and Arab leaders to revisit ties with Israel during an emergency Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation joint session in Doha. Notably, Pakistan was the co-sponsor of this conference.
Pakistan has been pushing for an anti-Israel "Islamic NATO”, which will not only unite Muslim nations against Israel but also serve its own regional interests vis-a-vis India.
Earlier, in an interview to Geo News, Pakistan defence minister Khawaja Asif indicated that there is always room for more Muslim nations to join its defence agreement with Saudi Arabia. “I think it is a fundamental right of the countries and people here, particularly the Muslim population, to together defend their region, countries and nations,” he said.
He added that Pakistan has consistently supported the idea of a Nato-like alliance for Arab nations,
citing a “greater vulnerability for Pakistan” given the region’s history over the past 40 to 50 years. Though he did not elaborate further, Asif was clearly referring to Pakistan's historic rivarly with India, with both nations fighting four wars since Independence, mainly over Kashmir. Islamabad also sees India as an "existential threat".
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