Speculations surrounding Pak army chief’s visit to US baseless: ISPR

Rawalpindi: The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Thursday termed the speculations over Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir’s visit to the US as “baseless”, local media reported.

In a series of tweets, the military’s media wing said: “There have been baseless speculations on social media that the COAS is visiting the US,” The News reported.

The ISPR added that the army chief is on an official visit to the UK from February 5-10 in connection with the fifth Pakistan-UK Stabilisation Conference.

The ISPR’s statement came just hours after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was asked to comment on the army chief’s speculated visit to the US, The News reported.

“We are not aware of the army chief’s trip to the US. ISPR could inform better on this matter,” Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told journalists during her weekly press briefing.

The military’s media wing explained that the conference is a bi-annual event for military-to-military cooperation between the two countries, in which senior Pakistani military leadership has been participating since 2016.

The visit is seen as highly important in view of the rising issue of Taliban militancy and the situation in the South Asian region. This is General Munir’s first visit to the UK after taking over as Pakistan’s army chief at the end of November last year, The News reported.

The conference will also focus on the Ukraine war’s impact on the EU, the UK, and its consideration for Pakistan.

According to a source, General Munir will also address a security think-tank towards the end of his visit.

–IANS

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