U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth holds a briefing at the Pentagon after the U.S. hit Iranian nuclear facilities, during the Israel-Iran conflict, in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., June 22, 2025, in this still photo taken from handout video. PHOTO: REUTERS
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has praised Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the chief of defense and army chief of staff Field Marshal Asim Munir for their role in the US-Iran peace talks, saying Washington and Islamabad are developing a “genuine friendship”.
“I mentioned India here, but I could have very easily mentioned Pakistan and the role of the field marshal and the prime minister in peace talks,” he said while answering a question at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
“I think an unexpected development and a true friendship [are] development there, which I think is important.”
Relations between Pakistan and the US hit rock bottom in 2011 after the US raid in Abbottabad that killed Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. They improved somewhat in 2020 when the US recognized Pakistan’s role in facilitating the Doha agreement with the Afghan Taliban.
But with the arrival of President Joe Biden in 2021, ties again went into a diplomatic freeze. They were sidelined for much of his tenure as the Biden administration leaned on India to counter China’s growing influence in the region.
Relations between the two countries have reached a new high during President Trump’s second term. In March 2025—weeks after Trump’s second inauguration—Pakistan arrested and extradited to the United States an Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) operative, Mohammad Sharifullah, who was accused of helping plan the 2021 suicide bombing outside Kabul airport that killed 13 American soldiers.
It prompted Trump to praise Pakistan at the beginning of his second term. “I especially want to thank the government of Pakistan for helping arrest this monster,” Trump said in his first address to Congress during his second term.
Diplomatic engagement between the US and Pakistan reached new heights after Trump helped broker a ceasefire between Pakistan and India during their brief war.
Since then, leaders from both countries have exchanged cordial gestures and praised each other’s leadership on international platforms. Prime Minister Shehbaz even nominated President Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his mediation efforts.
Trump, in turn, has often praised Prime Minister Shehbaz and Pakistan’s military leadership, particularly describing CDF Munir as his “favorite field marshal”.
Building on this positive momentum, Islamabad is now seeking to translate the goodwill into tangible economic benefits by pursuing a more favorable trade deal with Washington, including tariff concessions and expanded market access for Pakistani exports.
Most recently, after a war broke out between the US and Iran in February this year, Pakistan appeared on the international stage as a peace broker. Islamabad brokered a two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran on 8 April, followed by critical talks in Islamabad involving high-level delegations from both countries on 11 and 12 April. However, neither side was able to reach an agreement to end the conflict.
Since then, the two sides have exchanged proposals and counter-proposals in an attempt to find common ground and resume a second round of direct negotiations aimed at ending the conflict.
