United States Secretary of Protection Pete Hegseth on Saturday mentioned Washington and Islamabad have been creating a “true friendship” as he praised Pakistan’s function within the ongoing US-Iran peace negotiations.
With Pakistan performing because the official interlocutor between Washington and Tehran within the ongoing peace negotiations that resulted within the April 8 US-Iran ceasefire, Trump and his high officers have hailed Islamabad’s function a number of instances.
On the three-day Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Hegseth was requested about former director of nationwide intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s remarks on Pakistan’s future missile capabilities doubtlessly posing a risk to the US, and whether or not India’s Agni-VI missile program posed an identical risk.
The query was posed after Hegseth, in his speechhad praised US protection cooperation with Indo-Pacific and Southeast Asian nations, in addition to India, which he termed a “essential anchor to carry the road”.
“I discussed India right here, however I very simply might have talked about Pakistan and the function that the sphere marshal and the prime minister are taking part in in peace negotiations,” Hegseth replied, praising PM Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Protection Forces and Chief of the Military Workers Discipline Marshal Asim Munir.
“I believe an surprising growth and a real friendship [is] creating there, which I believe is essential,” he added.
Noting that each India and Pakistan have been nuclear-capable nations, Hegseth mentioned, “I believe either side are going to see comprehensible threats coming from the opposite, possibly a few of which we see otherwise, and nations are going to wish to develop ICBM threats.”
Nonetheless, he added, “However we’re not pointing fingers, a minimum of from our standpoint, proper now, at both nation and calling them a risk to us.”
The protection secretary additional mentioned that the US was “grateful for, in every of their lanes, the advantages they’ve given to peace all over the world”.
Hegseth additionally reiterated Washington and Islamabad’s stance that President Donald Trump brokered a ceasefire between Pakistan and India through the Might 2025 battle — a story that India’s PM Narendra Modi has denied, irking Trump.
The US president has praised PM Shehbaz and CDF Munir on a number of events, calling the prime minister “nice” and the navy chief “improbable” final month.
In February, on the inaugural assembly of the US-led Board of Peace, Trump had praised Shehbaz and described the sphere marshal as a “powerful man” and a “severe fighter”.
The US president has even referred to the military chief as “my favourite discipline marshal”.
In November 2025, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio mentioned the US noticed a possibility to develop its strategic relationship with Pakistan and that the latest strengthening of ties between the 2 nations didn’t come on the expense of Washington’s relationship with New Delhi.
