US President Donald Trump left participants at the Sharm el-Sheikh Summit on Gaza taken aback when, in the middle of his own remarks, he suddenly turned to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and asked, "Do you want to say something". Urging him to repeat what he had told him privately, Trump added, "say what you said to me the other day."
Before this unexpected moment, Trump had already acknowledged the Pakistani leader along with his “favourite field marshal from Pakistan” while addressing the gathering of world leaders who had convened in Egypt to deliberate on the Gaza ceasefire and efforts toward regional peace.
Taking the stage for what became a five-minute speech, PM Shehbaz offered strong praise for Trump’s diplomatic efforts. Calling him a “man of peace,” he declared, “I would say this is one of the greatest days in contemporary history, because peace has been achieved after untiring efforts. Efforts led by President Trump, who is genuinely a man of peace who had relentlessly and untiringly worked throughout these months, day in and day out, to make this world a place to live in peace and prosperity.”
Sharif went further, explaining that his government had already put Trump’s name forward for international recognition: “Pakistan had nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize for his ‘outstanding, extraordinary contributions to first, stop war between India and Pakistan and then achieve a ceasefire, along with his very wonderful team.’”
He repeated that endorsement once more during his address: “Again, I would like to nominate this great president for the Nobel Peace Prize, because I genuinely feel he is the most genuine and most wonderful candidate for the peace prize because he has brought not only peace in South Asia — saved millions of people, their lives -- and today, achieving peace in Gaza [and] saving, millions of lives in the Middle East.”
The Pakistani leader described Trump in dramatic terms, portraying him as “the man the world needed most at this point in time,” and said history would remember him as someone who “stopped seven, now eight, wars.” Reflecting on rising tensions in South Asia, he remarked, “Suffice to say, had it not been for this gentleman, who knows, India and Pakistan are both nuclear powers, had he not intervened with his wonderful team during those four days, the war could’ve escalated to a level and who would’ve lived to tell what happened. Similarly, here in this part of the world in the Middle East, Mr president, your valuable contribution along with President Sisi, I think history will remember in golden words.”
When Trump returned to the podium, he responded to the unexpected tribute with humor: “Wow! I didn’t expect that. Let’s go home, there’s nothing more I have to say. Goodbye everybody. That was really beautiful and beautifully delivered, thank you very much.”
The surprise exchange between the two leaders became one of the most memorable moments of the summit and highlighted Pakistan’s public appreciation of what it called Trump’s role in preventing conflict and promoting stability in South Asia and the Middle East.
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