Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir held a key meeting with US Vice President JD Vance in Zurich on Sunday, as part of ongoing crucial US-Iran talks.
The meeting was also attended by US envoy Steve Witkoff and former US presidential adviser Jared Kushner. Vance has said that he hopes for additional progress in the coming hours during the talks with Iran, as he praised the Pakistani leadership for their mediatory role.
Standing alongside the leadership of Pakistan and Qatar in Switzerland, Vance praised the roles played by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, describing their contributions as commendable.
He also described Field Marshal Munir as an excellent military commander. “I have recently jokingly said that there are two very important people in my life. An Indian, my wife and a Pakistani, Field Marshal [Syed Asim] Munir.”
The US VP noted that he has spoken a lot to the Chief of Defence Forces, Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Munir, during the nearly four-month war as Pakistan pushed diplomatically to bring stability to the region.
Vance said Pakistan’s role had been appreciated around the world and expressed a desire to build on the current momentum in the future.
The US vice president said Washington wanted Iran to play a positive role in efforts for peace, while adding that peace in the Middle East remained a priority.
He also voiced concern over the situation in Lebanon and said US President Donald Trump was working to reduce tensions in the country – as Israel continues to bomb Hezbollah’s locations.
Referring to Iran, Vance said the country had been a “source of regional instability”, adding that positive discussions were needed on the issues at hand.
“The technical negotiations may not solve every disagreement, but it will allow us to sit together as teams for the first time in history,” he said.
These kinds of ceasefires are always “a little bit messy”, he said, noting that President Trump is “committed to seeing a full regional ceasefire”.
“We’ve seen great progress over the last couple of days in ensuring the ceasefire in Lebanon holds,” Vance added.
For his part, Prime Minister Shehbaz has said that talks became possible because of the prudent leadership of US President Trump.
The prime minister said this was an important opportunity for global peace. He also said Field Marshal Munir had played an important role in the talks.
“We can work together to establish unity in the world,” Prime Minister Shehbaz said.
The Prime Minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, also paid tribute to Prime Minister Shehbaz and Field Marshal Munir.