By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to discuss global and regional security dynamics and counterterrorism cooperation, the Pakistani military said on Sunday.
Munir was in Germany from Feb. 12 to 14 for a series of high-level meetings on the margins of the 62nd Munich Security Conference, according to a statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of Pakistan’s armed forces. The annual gathering, which describes itself as the world’s leading forum for debating international security policy, brings together heads of state, ministers, senior military officers and leading figures from international organisations, business, academia and civil society.
“COAS & CDF interacted with a number of dignitaries,” ISPR said. “He met with the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and discussed matters of mutual interest, including global and regional security dynamics and counterterrorism cooperation.”
The talks with Rubio come as Pakistan and the United States continue to rebuild and broaden their bilateral relationship after years of uneven engagement. Last month Islamabad announced it would join a new global initiative established by US President Donald Trump to help resolve international conflicts and promote peace, with a particular focus on the situation in Gaza. Pakistani leaders have repeatedly credited Trump with playing a decisive role in brokering last year’s ceasefire that halted a brief but sharp military confrontation with India.
High-level contacts between the two countries have picked up markedly since the middle of last year. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan’s military leadership and US officials have held a series of meetings covering trade, investment in minerals and energy, security cooperation and wider regional stability. A landmark bilateral trade agreement signed in July 2025 included reciprocal tariff reductions and laid the groundwork for increased American investment in Pakistan’s energy and mineral sectors — steps that Islamabad has described as opening fresh avenues for economic partnership.
During his three-day stay in Munich, Munir also held separate meetings with senior German officials. He called on Alexander Dobrindt, Germany’s federal interior minister, Günter Sautter, the foreign and security policy adviser to the federal chancellor, and General Carsten Breuer, chief of defence of the German armed forces. “The meetings focused on contemporary security issues, bilateral defence cooperation and the need for promoting global peace and security through bilateral and multilateral dialogue,” ISPR said. Munir also held “productive engagement” with Admiral Renato Rodrigues de Aguiar Freire, chief of the joint staff of the Brazilian armed forces. The two discussed bilateral military cooperation. Separately, General Rodolph Haykal, commander of the Lebanese armed forces, called on the Pakistani army chief. The two men reviewed the global and regional security situation and explored ways to strengthen defence collaboration, ISPR said.
The Germany visit follows a similar trip by Munir to Switzerland in January, where he and Sharif held informal meetings on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. There they met Rubio as well as Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. Pakistani officials have described the latest round of engagements in Munich as part of a broader effort to deepen defence and security ties with key international partners at a time of heightened global tensions.
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