‘Wants the photo op for Nobel’: Security expert suggests Trump tried to get PM Modi, Asim Munir to White House at the same time

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi declined US President Donald Trump’s invitation to visit the White House on his way from Canada, the timing has raised eyebrows. Security experts have questioned if Trump’s invitation was extended in order to coincide with the visit of Pakistan Field Marshal Asim Munir. 

National security and Indo-Pacific analysis and Professor at USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts & Sciences, Derek J Grossman, said, “Pretty wild that Trump tried to sneakily invite Modi to White House today, presumably when Asim Munir would also be present for lunch. He doesn’t understand the context and history of India-Pakistan tensions at all, and just wants the photo op to win a Nobel peace prize later.”

PM Modi had flown out of Canada after attending the G7 Outreach Session to Croatia. At around the same time, Munir had met Trump, and had suggested that the US President should be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. While it is unclear what discussions Munir and Trump had, the meeting was set on the backdrop of the Iran-Israel conflict. This is of importance because of Islamabad’s close ties with Tehran. 

Strategic affairs expert Brahma Chellaney Trump and Munir’s private, closed-door luncheon is seen as a significant geopolitical signal, primarily directed at New Delhi. Discussions likely included Iran, although Munir's invitation to the US was extended before Israel's preemptive action against Iran, he said. “Trump's decision to welcome Pakistan's most powerful figure signals an effort to normalise Islamabad's standing — and potentially revive the Cold War–era US-Pakistan strategic collaboration. This meeting may mark a return to the old American playbook of balancing US relations with India and Pakistan,” he said. 

Before his meeting with Munir, Trump had a phone call with PM Modi, where he had extended the invitation. In the phone conversation, Modi informed Trump that India and Pakistan halted their military actions last month following direct discussions between their militaries, and without any mediation by the United States.

Modi also firmly stated that India does not and will never accept mediation in such matters. He added that the discussions on cessation of military actions were initiated at Islamabad's request, according to Misri.