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KARACHI: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Monday met with US Chargé d’Affaires Elizabeth Horst and discussed with her the potential of Pakistan’s information technology (IT), minerals and agriculture sectors for collaboration with the United States, the Pakistani finance ministry said.

The meeting served as an opportunity to exchange views on matters of mutual interest and to reaffirm the positive trajectory of bilateral relations between Pakistan and the United States.

Aurangzeb appreciated the continued US support for Pakistan’s development and macroeconomic stability achieved over the past year and a half, according to the Pakistani finance ministry.

“Aurangzeb underscored the importance of the US as Pakistan’s largest trading partner and highlighted Pakistan’s keen interest in broadening bilateral cooperation beyond traditional sectors,” his ministry said.

“He specifically pointed to the promising potential in information technology, minerals and agriculture as avenues for mutually beneficial collaboration.”

The US is Pakistan’s top export destination, with shipments totaling $5.44 billion in fiscal year 2023-2024, according to official data. From July 2024 to February 2025, exports rose 10 percent from a year earlier.

Both countries have been engaged in talks after Washington announced a 29 percent “reciprocal tariff” on Pakistani exports in April. Islamabad said the move, paused in June for a 90-day period, may undercut its fragile, export-led recovery.

Recalling his visit to the US this month, Aurangzeb shared insights from his productive meetings with US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer in Washington, noting “encouraging progress” in deepening trade and economic ties between the two countries.

He also briefed Horst on Pakistan’s recent macroeconomic indicators, including sovereign rating upgrades and renewed investor confidence, according to the Pakistani finance ministry.

The US chargé d’affaires appreciated the economic progress and the government’s reform-driven approach, emphasizing the US commitment to strengthening economic and trade ties with Pakistan.

“She reiterated US support for continued economic and political stability in Pakistan, and expressed optimism for an enduring and robust business partnership between the two nations,” the Pakistani ministry said.

“The meeting concluded with a mutual commitment to building on the momentum of current engagements to further deepen bilateral cooperation.”

NEW DELHI: India’s defense minister said on Monday that New Delhi had ended its military conflict with Pakistan in May as it had met all its objectives and had not responded to pressure, rejecting US President Donald Trump’s claim that he brokered the truce.

Defense Minister Rajnath Singh was speaking at the opening of a discussion in parliament on the April 22 attack on Hindu tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir in which 26 men were killed.

The attack led to a fierce, four-day military conflict with Pakistan in May, the worst between the nuclear-armed neighbors in nearly three decades.

“India halted its operation because all the political and military objectives studied before and during the conflict had been fully achieved,” Singh said.

“To suggest that the operation was called off under pressure is baseless and entirely incorrect,” he said.

Singh’s comments came as the Indian Army said that it had killed three men in an intense gunbattle in Kashmir on Monday.

Indian TV channels said the men were suspected to be behind the April attack. Reuters could not immediately verify the information.

The Kashmir attack was the worst assault on civilians in the country since the 2008 Mumbai attacks. New Delhi said Pakistani nationals were involved in the killings and blamed Islamabad for backing them. Pakistan denied involvement and sought an independent investigation.

In the latest conflict, the two sides used fighter jets, missiles, drones and other munitions, killing dozens of people, before Trump announced they had agreed to a ceasefire.

Pakistan thanked Trump for brokering the agreement but India said Washington had no hand in it and that New Delhi and Islamabad had agreed between themselves to end the fighting.

Indian opposition groups have questioned what they say is the intelligence failure behind the Kashmir attack and the government’s inability to capture the assailants — issues they are expected to raise during the parliament discussion.

They have also criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi for coming under pressure from Trump and agreeing to end the fighting, along with reports that Indian jets were shot down during the fighting.

Pakistan claimed it downed five Indian planes in combat, and India’s highest ranking general told Reuters that India suffered initial losses in the air, but declined to give details.

The Himalayan region of Kashmir has been at the heart of the hostility between old rivals India and Pakistan, both of whom claim the region in full but rule it in part, and have fought two of their three wars over it.

India accuses Pakistan of helping separatists in its part of Kashmir, but Pakistan denies this and says it only provides diplomatic and moral support to Kashmiris seeking self-determination.