US Vice President JD Vance on Sunday made a light-hearted remark involving India and Pakistan, saying that two of the most important people in his life are “an Indian and a Pakistani".
Standing alongside Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir during interactions in Lucerne, Switzerland, Vance quipped that the “Indian" was his wife, Usha Vance, while the “Pakistani" was Pakistan’s powerful Army chief.
“I have joked that I have two very important people in my life: an Indian and a Pakistani. The Indian is my wife. The Pakistani is Field Marshal Munir," Vance said.
He added with a smile, “I’ve talked with Munir more than I’ve talked to anybody else over the last months."
The remark came amid intensive diplomatic engagement involving Washington and Tehran and drew attention because of Vance’s reference to Munir, who has emerged as Pakistan’s key interlocutor with the United States in recent weeks.
Usha Vance, whose parents emigrated from India, became the first Indian-American Second Lady of the United States after Donald Trump’s return to the White House earlier this year.
Vance’s comments came during the Iran-US talks in Switzerland attended by Iranian and Pakistani leaders, including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Munir.
The US Vice President’s humorous aside quickly caught attention on social media, with many users highlighting the unusual juxtaposition of his Indian-origin wife and Pakistan’s military chief in the same sentence.
The quip also underscored the intense pace of backchannel diplomacy and high-level contacts that have marked recent weeks, with Vance indicating that his interactions with Munir had exceeded those with any other leader.
