WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to have lunch with Pakistani armed forces chief Asim Munir at the White House on Wednesday, according to Trump’s official schedule.
The rare one-on-one meeting between a Pakistani military chief and a U.S. president could rile India after the worst fighting between the nuclear-armed rivals in South Asia for decades, which Trump took responsibility for helping defuse.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry and the military’s media wing did not reply to requests for comment on the White House meeting and it was not immediately clear what would be discussed at the lunch, which was closed to the press.
Trump said last month India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire after talks mediated by Washington, and that the hostilities ended after he urged the countries to focus on trade instead of war.
However, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Trump late on Tuesday that the ceasefire was achieved through talks between the two militaries and not U.S. mediation, according to India’s most senior diplomat.
Pakistan has thanked Washington for its role in the mediation efforts last month.
The military has ruled Pakistan for at least three decades since independence in 1947 and has wielded extraordinary influence even with a civilian government in office.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington and Charlotte Greenfield in Islamabad; editing by Mark Heinrich)
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