ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s leaders have maintained a long, sometimes turbulent relationship with successive US administrations since the South Asian country’s creation in 1947, making more than 40 official visits to the United States over seven decades that have reflected shifting geopolitical priorities from Cold War alignments to counter-terrorism and trade.
The latest high-level encounter saw Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday, part of a flurry of engagements around the UN General Assembly in New York.
The bilateral relations began with Pakistan’s creation in 1947. Pakistan’s first prime minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, made a state visit to the United States in May 1950, where he was personally received by President Harry S. Truman. The visit — which included stops in New York, Chicago and a ceremonial welcome in Washington — laid the groundwork for Pakistan’s early alignment with the West during the Cold War.
In the 1960s, Pakistan’s then-president Ayub Khan travelled to Washington to meet President John F. Kennedy and later President Lyndon B. Johnson as Islamabad navigated security and economic ties amid rising regional tensions. Ayub’s 1961 visit, which included an address to the US Congress and meetings with senior US officials, underscored Pakistan’s strategic role in South Asia at the height of US-Soviet competition.
The 1970s and 1980s brought new dimensions to the bilateral relationship. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s contacts with the Nixon administration — notably during the early 1970s — marked Pakistan’s role as an intermediary between the US and China at a pivotal moment in Cold War diplomacy. Later, General Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq made a state visit to the United States in December 1982 and met President Ronald Reagan.
Benazir Bhutto became the first woman prime minister of a Muslim-majority country and visited the White House in 1989 and again in the 1990s to meet US leaders and address Congress.
After the 11 September 2001 attacks, Pakistan’s ties with Washington warmed once more. President Pervez Musharraf emerged as a key interlocutor for the US-led “war on terror”, visiting Camp David and meeting President George W. Bush in a series of high-level encounters that encompassed security assistance, counter-terrorism cooperation and economic ties.
On October 23, 2013, then–Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif met President Barack Obama at the White House, where the two leaders held wide-ranging discussions underscoring the importance of the US-Pakistan partnership.
On October 22, 2015, Barack Obama again hosted then–Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the Oval Office. According to the official White House readout, Obama emphasised Washington’s commitment to “a broad, sustainable, and enduring partnership with Pakistan” aimed at delivering progress for its people and strengthening democratic institutions and civil society.
Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan’s Oval Office meeting with President Donald Trump in July 2019 focused on Afghanistan, trade and regional security and received broad international attention. White House briefings and video records document the meeting between Trump and Khan.
On Thursday, Shehbaz Sharif travelled from New York to Washington for an Oval Office meeting with President Trump. The leaders discussed matters of mutual interest as well as regional and global developments.
The White House has invited Pakistani leaders frequently across the decades because of Pakistan’s regional influence, military capabilities and location. Each Oval Office visit — from Liaquat Ali Khan’s 1950 reception by President Truman to Shehbaz Sharif’s meeting — has acted as both a barometer and a catalyst for shifts in the bilateral relationship.
