Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir muscles into diplomacy, joins Xi-Sharif meet in China

In a rare diplomatic move, Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin, China, and joined bilateral talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, even as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was formally representing the country.

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar shared photographs on X from the meeting, showing Munir seated beside Sharif during the talks with the Chinese delegation, with Xi himself present.

Munir’s participation comes against the backdrop of his rapid rise in Pakistan’s power structure. He was elevated to the rank of Field Marshal following the four-day skirmish with India in May, during which New Delhi first destroyed nine terror camps in Pakistan and later carried out retaliatory strikes on radar installations in Lahore and Gujranwala. The strikes inflicted significant damage on Pakistani military infrastructure and ultimately forced Islamabad to seek a ceasefire.

Munir’s presence at such a global forum — while Defence Minister Khwaja Muhammad Asif remains sidelined in Islamabad — underscores his position as the most powerful figure in Pakistan today.

The Army Chief has been steadily building his international profile. After becoming Field Marshal, he visited Beijing on July 25, where he met Chinese Vice President Han Zheng.

Barely 10 days ago, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was in Islamabad, where he assured Munir of Beijing’s continued support in safeguarding Pakistan’s territorial integrity and security, while welcoming a greater Pakistani role in global affairs.

Notably, Munir had also met US President Donald Trump in Washington earlier this year at the latter’s invitation. His latest engagement with the Chinese leadership — a principal US rival — is now expected to draw close scrutiny in Western capitals.

Pakistan has a history of military dictatorships, primarily in four major periods: Ayub Khan (1958–1969), Yahya Khan (1969–1971), Zia-ul-Haq (1977–1988), and Pervez Musharraf (1999–2008). These periods began with military coups that overthrew civilian governments, suspending democratic institutions and resulting in the generals ruling the nation as chief martial law administrators and presidents.

Talks of Munir stepping in as Pakistan’s President did the rounds recently, though he publicly rejected the rumours.