How Pakistan’s Asim Munir became Trump’s ‘favourite field marshal’
Al Jazeera
The army chief, analysts say, has driven Pakistan’s geopolitical reemergence over the past year as a soldier-diplomat.
Islamabad, Pakistan – The setting was Mar-a-Lago, the personal residence of United States President Donald Trump, and the question concerned the fate of Russia’s war on Ukraine, which has been raging since February 2022.
“We have stopped eight wars,” Trump said during a news conference on December 22, where he also announced a new class of heavily armed warships that will be named after him.
“We stopped a potential nuclear war between Pakistan and India,” the president added, making the argument for why he believed he could end the war in Ukraine, though he has so far failed to do so, despite once claiming he could stop the conflict within 24 hours.
“The head of Pakistan and a highly respected general – he is a field marshal – and also the prime minister of Pakistan said that President Trump saved 10 million lives, maybe more,” the US president added.
This marked at least the 10th instance since June this year that Trump, who returned to the White House in January for a second term, publicly praised Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir.
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