Army, ISI Chiefs Accompany Pakistan PM On US Visit

Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, accompanied by a high ranking delegation that includes Army and Spy agency chiefs, on Saturday began his 3-day visit to the United States. 

Khan chose to fly to the US via Qatar Airways in a bid to "save taxpayer money," said Special Advisor to the Prime Minister Naeemul Haq.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi confirmed that Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa will accompany Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Media reports said the visit has been made possible by the role played by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. 

According to the Express Tribune, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has used his personal contacts with Jared Kushner, son-in-law of President Donald Trump, to arrange the invitation for the prime minister to the White House.

Kushner is also a senior adviser to Trump.

Briefing the Pakistani media on the visit, Qureshi said the director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) would also come to Washington with the prime minister. The two military leaders would also have "separate meetings with their counterparts" at the US department of defence, he added.

Apparently, this will be the first time that the country's top generals will accompany a prime minister to a White House meeting with the US president that will take place on July 22, Dawn reported.

Quoting diplomatic sources Dawn reported that Gen Bajwa would meet Defence Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan, the new chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Mark Milley and other senior officials during his visit to Pentagon.

Commenting on the PM's decision to bring top military officials to Washington, Marvin Weinbaum, a US scholar of South Asian affairs, said: "Policymakers in Washington have noticed that after a long time, Pakistan's civil and military leaders are on the same page on key issues."

Weinbaum said Afghanistan and terrorism were two primary concerns of the Trump administration in South Asia, and they knew on such issues "no major decision can be implemented in Pakistan without the army's support."

FM Qureshi said it was "a good omen" for the country when asked about the rare decision regarding military leadership's visit along with the PM. He said: "You know what was being said before. The political government wants a certain thing, the establishment does not... that there's disconnect between the civilian and the military establishments... that they are not on the same page. Alhamdolillah, there's no disconnect today. Both civil and military leaders are focusing on the country's interests, on the challenges before us," he added.

"We are moving ahead. We are grateful to our forces for such a responsible approach."

Diplomatic sources told Dawn that Mr Khan and his team would spend almost three hours at the White House, meeting President Trump and his aides.

Qureshi said the PM would arrive at the White House on Monday morning and after the book signing ceremony, he would attend two sessions, a small group meeting and an extended meeting. The first meeting would be in the Oval Office and the second in the cabinet room. He would also have a one-on-one meeting with President Trump. The US leader would accompany him on a White House tour that would give them more time "to mingle and chat", the foreign minister said.

The prime minister arrives in Washington on Saturday afternoon on a commercial flight and would stay at the ambassador's residence in the city's diplomatic enclave. 

On Sunday, Khan would meet IMF chief David Lipton and his delegation and would later have a similar meeting with the World Bank president. Later in the evening, he would attend a community event at Washington's Capital One Arena.

"We are expecting between 15,000 and 20,000 people," said chief organizer of the event Dr Abdullah Riar.

His other engagements include a meeting of Pakistani-Americans investors, media interviews, addressing the US-Pakistani Business Council and a dinner meeting with selected leaders of America's corporate sector.

"This summit-level interaction is happening after a five-year gap. In these five years, bilateral relations got from bad to worse," said the foreign minister, crediting the Imran Khan for halting this decline.