As Pakistan Military Chief Amir Munir was invited for a gathering with United States President Donald Trump, Indian Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh took a swipe on the Islamic State’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and acknowledged that it have to be embarring for the nation that the Army Chief will get invited and the PM “is nowhere to be seen.”
In an interview with the information company ANI, the Defence Secretary mentioned, “I haven’t got any nice opinion on this, however it’s shocking. It have to be a humiliation to any nation that the army chief will get invited and the prime minister is nowhere to be seen.”
It is a very unusual factor,” Singh added, and didn’t take any names whereas responding to a question about Munir’s assembly with Trump on Wednesday.
#WATCH | On US President Donald Trump’s lunch assembly with Pakistan Military Chief Asim Munir, Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh says, “…It’s shocking. It have to be a humiliation to any nation that the Army Chief will get invited and the Prime Minister is nowhere to be… pic.twitter.com/bstlFrWhga
— ANI (@ANI) June 20, 2025
The Defence Secretary additionally expressed shock at Munir’s presence within the Particular Funding Facilitation Council in Pakistan, which makes financial choices, and mentioned it is a ‘structurally imbalanced’ state the place the Army has first declare on assets.
“I all the time discovered it very unusual that this gentleman sits on one thing known as the Funding Facilitation Council in Pakistan, which principally makes financial choices. It is a bizarre, structurally kind of imbalanced state the place the army primarily has first declare on assets, which is why, with a $370 billion financial system, they’re able to pre-empt assets from their urgent social and financial wants into this type of battle. However be that as it could, they’re our neighbour, and we have now to deal with them in such a means that we set up some degree of deterrence,” Singh mentioned.
The Defence Secretary additionally mentioned that Munir’s presence and Pakistan PM Sharif’s absence within the White Home have been indicative of the facility dynamics within the neighbouring state.
“The very fact that you’re going to the White Home, your prime minister will not be there, however you might be there, would point out the place the kind of energy relationship lies. So, in a way, he is awarded himself the sphere marshal, I suppose,” Singh continued.
Defence Secretary On Munir’s Promotion
When requested about Defence Secretary Singh’s response to reviews of Munir’s promotion to the rank of Subject Martial, he mentioned one accepted it “with a sort of combination of bemusement and incredulity”.
“Truly, in a few of the circles, the suggestions that I used to be getting really did anticipate that one thing like this might occur. So, it was a sort of…how ought to I describe it? You accepted it with a sort of combination of bemusement and incredulity in a means that such absurdity can occur, however that is the best way it goes. You possibly can really award your self primarily a subject marshal,” Singh added.
PM Modi’s US Invite
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was additionally invited by US President Trump to go to Washington; nevertheless, he refused the invitation.
Whereas he was in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, on Friday, the PM opened up in regards to the purpose for the refusal and knowledgeable that he was invited for dinner with the US President.
“Simply two days in the past, I used to be in Canada for the G7 summit, and the US President Trump known as me. He mentioned, since you have got come to Canada, go by way of Washington, we can have dinner collectively and discuss. He prolonged the invitation with nice insistence. I instructed the US President, Thanks for the invitation. It is vitally necessary for me to go to the land of Mahaprabhu, and therefore I politely declined his invitation, and your love and devotion to Mahaprabhu introduced me to this land,” the Prime Minister mentioned.
PM Modi inaugurated and laid the muse stone of a number of improvement initiatives in Bhubaneswar on Friday.
(with ANI inputs)