U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth holds a briefing at the Pentagon, after the United States struck Iranian nuclear facilities, during the Israeli-Iranian conflict, in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., June 22, 2025, in this still image from a distributed video. PHOTO: REUTERS
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has praised Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Defense Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir for their role in the US-Iran peace negotiations, saying Washington and Islamabad are developing a “true friendship”.
“I mentioned India here, but I could very easily have mentioned Pakistan and the role that the field marshal and the prime minister are playing in the peace negotiations,” he said while responding to a question at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
“I think this is an unexpected development and a true friendship [are] develop there, which seems important to me.
Relations between Pakistan and the United States hit an all-time low in 2011 after the US raid in Abbottabad that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. They improved somewhat in 2020, when the United States acknowledged Pakistan’s role in facilitating the Doha deal with the Afghan Taliban.
However, with the arrival of President Joe Biden in 2021, diplomatic relations have once again entered a diplomatic freeze. They were relegated to the sidelines 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 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 a member of the Islamic State of Khorasan (IS-K), Mohammad Sharifullah, accused of helping to plan the 2021 suicide attack near Kabul airport that killed 13 American soldiers.
This prompted Trump to praise Pakistan early in his second term. “I want to especially thank the government of Pakistan for helping stop this monster,” Trump said in his first speech to Congress in his second term.
Diplomatic engagement between the United States and Pakistan reached new heights after Trump helped broker a ceasefire between Pakistan and India during their brief war.
Since then, the leaders of the two countries have exchanged cordial gestures and congratulated each other for their 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, frequently praised Prime Minister Shehbaz and Pakistan’s military leadership, notably calling CDF Munir his “favorite field marshal.”
Building on this positive momentum, Islamabad now seeks to translate this goodwill into tangible economic benefits by striking a more favorable trade deal with Washington, including tariff concessions and expanded market access for Pakistani exports.
More recently, after a war broke out between the United States and Iran in February this year, Pakistan emerged on the international stage as a broker for peace. Islamabad negotiated a two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran on April 8, followed by critical talks in Islamabad attended by high-level delegations from both countries on April 11 and 12. 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 effort to find common ground and resume a second round of direct talks aimed at ending the conflict.
