United States President Donald Trump may visit Pakistan and India this September, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing two local television channels.
Quoting unnamed sources familiar with the matter, the reports said that Trump’s stopover in Islamabad may be followed by a visit to India.
If confirmed, it would mark the first visit by a US president to Pakistan since George W. Bush’s brief trip in 2006.
The prospective visit comes in the wake of Trump’s recent claims about mediating peace between India and Pakistan during the four-day conflict in May.
A spokesperson for Pakistan’s foreign office, when approached by Reuters, said they were unaware of any scheduled presidential visit at this time.
This potential trip comes after a key meeting between Pakistan’s army chief, General Asim Munir, and President Trump on June 18 in Washington.
This meeting was significant as it marked the first occasion when a Pakistani military chief — who is not the country’s head of state — was hosted by a sitting US president.
A day after their meeting, Pakistan’s Army Chief recommended Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, for the latter's alleged role in preventing a nuclear war between India and Pakistan.
The meeting was followed by American airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities on June 22. The move triggered political backlash in Pakistan. During their meeting, Munir had reportedly urged President Trump to intervene and ease tensions between Iran and Israel.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that he has brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan. The latest reiteration of his claim came on July 14 during a meeting with NATO secretary general Rutte in the Oval Office.
“We've been very successful in settling wars. You have India, (and) Pakistan. You have Rwanda and the Congo that was going on for 30 years,” Trump said, adding, “India, by the way, Pakistan would have been a nuclear war within another week the way that was going. That was going very badly, and we did that through trade.”
Trump said he used trade negotiations as leverage: “I said, ‘we're not going to talk to you about trade unless you get this thing settled’, and they did, and they were both great, great leaders.”
Earlier this month, Trump repeated the claim, saying, “We stopped a lot of fights... I think a very big one frankly... India and Pakistan and we stopped that over trade.”
The Indian government has consistently rejected Trump’s assertions, maintaining that the ceasefire understanding was a result of bilateral discussions between the Director Generals of Military Operations (DGMOs) of both countries, with no third-party mediation.
Tensions between India and Pakistan had escalated after the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam. India responded with military strikes targeting terror bases in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Pakistan under Operation Sindoor.
Pakistan retaliated with strikes on Indian air bases, prompting the Indian Air Force to hit back at Pakistani installations.
A ceasefire agreement was announced on May 10.
