'COAS behaving like store manager': Pakistan senator blasts Munir's rare earth pitch to Trump

Pakistan Senator Aimal Wali Khan has slammed Army Chief General Asim Munir's rare earth minerals pitch to Donald Trump during a recent US visit, ridiculing the military-led diplomacy as a "joke" and calling the act undemocratic. "In what capacity is our Chief of the Army Staff roaming in America today? And with a briefcase of rare earth...what a joke. It was a joke," Khan said during a speech in the Senate. "Anyone who saw that picture-tell me, which Chief of the Army Staff carries rare earth minerals in a briefcase?"

The criticism came after the White House released a photograph showing US President Donald Trump intently examining a wooden box containing rare earth minerals presented by Pakistan's army chief. 

Munir showcased rare earth minerals as part of a strategic bid to attract American investment and reduce reliance on Chinese mineral supply chains. While the box was presented by Munir, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was seen in the background smiling.

Khan ridiculed the optics of the moment. "It looked to me like a premium brand store where the manager is standing with a big smile, and a shopkeeper is telling the buyer, 'Come, I have great stuff, buy it,'" he said. He questioned the constitutional legitimacy of such an act: "Under what law? Under what constitution? This is dictatorship. This is-sorry to say-not democracy. The Minister of Law and Justice is sitting there. Does Parliament have any significance or not?"

That photo-op followed a closed-door Oval Office meeting, and came just weeks after US firm Strategic Metals signed a $500 million deal with Pakistan’s Frontier Works Organisation to build a poly-metallic refinery.

Earlier, Munir had claimed that Pakistan possesses a "rare earth treasure," suggesting it could alleviate the country’s debt and elevate its economic standing. "Pakistan has a rare earth treasure; with this treasure, Pakistan’s debt will also be reduced," Munir said, according to Geo Group’s Suhail Warraich.

However, the pitch has drawn skepticism, with critics recalling similar exaggerated resource claims in the past. In 2019, then-Prime Minister Imran Khan’s announcement of a massive oil find was later dismissed by Pakistan’s Petroleum Division after drilling yielded no results.