Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Saturday said a “true friendship” was developing between Washington and Islamabad, crediting Pakistan’s army chief “Field Marshal” Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in that orderfor their role as peace negotiators.
To refurbish Pakistan’s tarnished global image and end international isolation—even at the cost of China’s ‘friendship!’—Munir and Sharif have been at the forefront of diplomatic efforts aimed at facilitating landmark talks between Iran and the US after the West Asian conflict broke out on February 28, 2026.
Their roles have been widely ‘praised’ by the international community, including US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly referred to Munir as his “favorite field marshal,” Arab News reported on Saturday.
Hegseth made the fresh remarks at the 2026 Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore while responding to a question on India’s long-range missile capability which could put parts of Europe and the US within reach.
“The final question was about India-Pakistan, and I mentioned India here, but I very easily could have mentioned Pakistan and the role that the field marshal and the prime minister are playing in peace negotiations,” he said.
“I think an unexpected development and a true friendship developing there, which I think is important,” Hegseth said.
“And you saw that in the ability of the president (Trump) to come together on brokering a peace between India and Pakistan, two nuclear-capable countries.”
Munir and Sharif built a rapport with Trump in his second term during US efforts to defuse a brief but intense conflict between Pakistan and India last year, which involved exchanges of drone, missile and artillery strikes between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
Pakistan hailed Trump’s role following the conflict, with Sharif even nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize, while India dismissed US involvement in resolving the standoff.
Munir and Sharif’s ties with Trump deepened after the US-Israeli war on Iran starting on February 28. Pakistan played a leading ‘mediating’ role between Washington and Tehran by hosting the first round of peace talks. Munir also visited Tehran to help ease West Asian tensions and broker an extension of the ceasefire.
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