Imran-Trump meeting likely in July

WASHINGTON: Prime Minister Imran Khan is ‘most likely’ to meet President Donald Trump at the White House in the last week of July, diplomatic sources claimed.

The exact dates for the prime minister's visit have not been confirmed yet, the sources told The News adding that the two sides are in the process of finalising the trip. Earlier, it was suggested that the summit meeting could take place on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly's annual moot in September. Since the Afghan peace process has picked up pace after Pakistan offered its all-out efforts to help resolve the issue, the urgency for the two leaders to discuss the regional situation has taken precedence.

Pakistan recently hosted the first Afghan Peace Conference where representatives of key Afghan political parties participated. The conference was followed by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's key visit to Islamabad. Ghani met Prime Minister Imran Khan and government officials from both sides held high-level talks.

Pakistan's foreign minister also announced on Thursday that Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Trump were expected to meet soon. Efforts to arrange the Khan-Trump meeting have been underway since President Trump announced in March that he was looking forward to meeting "the new leadership in Pakistan."