By Apoorva Misra,News18,Shalinder Wangu

Copyright news18

Thursday’s impending meeting between Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and US President Donald Trump, to be joined by Pakistan’s Army Chief Asim Munir, is set against dramatic regional shifts following US strikes on Iran after covert Pakistani help. The United States seeks to further leverage Pakistan’s geographic and strategic influence, particularly as Iran aggressively pursues uranium enrichment and nuclear capabilities.
Iran’s Angle & Regional Security
Washington’s current engagement with Pakistan follows a precedent: after President Trump’s last White House meeting with Asim Munir, the US launched significant strikes on Iranian nuclear assets, reportedly benefitting from covert support routed through Pakistan. The new summit with Shehbaz Sharif is expected to deepen US-Pakistan coordination against Iran, possibly involving intelligence sharing, base access, and indirect military logistics, with Iran’s nuclear ambitions fueling US urgency.
Pakistan-Saudi Defence Pact & Nuclear Concerns
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have just formalised a Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement, signed on September 17. This pact pledges mutual response to any aggression, effectively putting Saudi Arabia under Pakistan’s nuclear umbrella for the first time, ending Israel’s monopoly in the region. The US is closely monitoring this development, concerned about potential technology sharing or direct nuclear cooperation that could shift the regional balance and embolden other Gulf states to seek similar arrangements. Experts argue this agreement binds Pakistan’s security apparatus and nuclear capabilities to Riyadh, raising the costs of Pakistan-Iran collaboration and deterring Iranian nuclear ambitions.
Bagram Airbase & Broader Agenda
The summit may also cover prospective US leasing of Afghanistan’s Bagram Airbase via Pakistani intermediaries—a move that would extend US reach and flexibility in the region and could be part of larger US plans to contain both Iranian and Taliban-linked activities. Additional discussions may focus on resource extraction (oil and minerals), finance (including cryptocurrency), and the future road map for Palestine.
The Afghan Taliban, in a high-level leadership meeting held in Kandahar, has vowed to fully prepare for a renewed war if the United States attempts to retake Bagram Air Base, and warned that any cooperation by Pakistan with such US efforts would place Islamabad in direct confrontation with the Taliban.