Pakistan has claimed that its Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is among the “select” Muslim leaders invited for a meeting with US President Donald Trump in New York. The meeting is said to happen on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session in New York, the Foreign Office said in a statement on Sunday.
The statement added that Sharif will take part in a meeting of “select Islamic leaders” with US President Trump to “exchange views on issues pertaining to regional and international peace and security." He [the PM] will be accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, as well as other ministers and senior government officials. Though the statement did not describe the agenda behind Trump’s meeting, it added that Sharif will seek global help to “resolve the situations of Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK) and Palestine.”
Pakistan also boasted that invite for Sharif reflected Pakistan’s improving ties with the US.
The meeting comes amid tensions in the Middle East after Israel’s hit on Doha targetting Hamas leaders. The incident saw Arab countries calling an emergency summit emergency joint session of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, co-sponsored by Pakistan.
The joint statement from that summit urged “all states to take all possible legal and effective measures to prevent Israel from continuing its actions against the Palestinian people.” The Gulf states are reportedly upset at Washington for aiding Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and for its hostility towards the new Syrian government. The Arab leaders have also urged Trump in no uncertain terms to make a choice between them and rein in Israel.
However, Trump is yet to take any decisive action in this regard. Though he met with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani in New York after the Doha strike, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio later clarified that Washington was “not going to change the nature of our relationship with the Israelis.”