United States (US) President Donald Trump is expected to visit Pakistan later this year, media reports claimed Thursday, citing sources familiar with the matter.

 

While there has been no official confirmation by the US so far, a Pakistani foreign office spokesperson said they were not aware of any such visit. At least two major news outlets have also since removed the claim from their respective websites.

 

Amid mixed reports and no official response to the claim by the US so far, if confirmed, the visit would be the first by a US president since nearly two decades ago when President George W Bush visited the country in 2006.

 

It may be noted that the claim comes as President Trump continues to shower praise on Pakistan and the country’s civil-military leadership since after the military clashes against India in May this year.

 

As part of the sudden shift in Trump’s tone towards Pakistan, he also hosted Field Marshal Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Syed Asim Munir at the White House in June.

 

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, President Trump was asked whether the discussions included the then ongoing Iran-Israel conflict. In response, he said, “They [Pakistan] know Iran very well, better than most, and they’re not happy about anything. It’s not that they’re bad with Israel. They know them both, actually, but they know Iran better. He [Field Marshal Munir] agreed with me.”

 

President Trump also thanked Field Marshal Asim Munir for not going to war with India, and expressed similar gratitude to Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi, whom he said had met with him “a few days ago”.

 

“These two very smart people decided not to keep going with a war that could have been a nuclear war. Pakistan and India are two big nuclear powers,” he added, also revealing that the US was working on a trade deal with Islamabad.

 

While Field Marshal Asim Munir has become the first serving Chief of Army Staff (COAS) to hold a one-on-one meeting with a sitting US president, the meeting also marked the first time a serving Pakistani army chief, without holding political office or ruling under martial law, was formally received at this level.

 

Trump, in days leading to the meeting, was at least twice also quoted praising Pakistanis as “intelligent people”. He had also said that he “loved Pakistan”.