US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has said Washington and Islamabad are developing a “true friendship”, praising Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and CDF and COAS Field Marshal Asim Munir for their role in the US-Iran peace negotiations.

Responding to a question at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, he said, “I mentioned India here, but I very easily could have mentioned Pakistan and the role that the field marshal and the prime minister are playing in peace negotiations.

“I think an unexpected development and a true friendship [is] developing there, which I think is important,” he added.

Hegseth also reiterated the US and Pakistan’s stance of President Donald Trump brokering a ceasefire between Pakistan and India during the May 2025 conflict.

“I think both sides are going to see understandable threats coming from the other, maybe some of which we see differently, and countries are going to want to develop ICBM threats,” he said, clarifying that Washington was not “pointing a finger” at either country right now or terming either of them a threat to the US.