The Trump-led US administration has approached Pakistan over the sale of American locomotives and proposed cooperation on assessing and extracting the country’s mineral reserves, The Express Tribune reported, citing official sources.
The discussions took place during Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb’s visit to Washington in October, on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund. Pakistani authorities have since held internal consultations to review US interest in the railways and minerals sectors.
Aurangzeb met Raymond Emory Cox, Special Assistant to the President for International Economic Relations, and Ricky Gill, Special Assistant to the US President and senior director for South and Central Asia. During the meetings, Gill sought Pakistan’s support for the purchase of American locomotives, for which a tender has already been issued. Pakistan had previously acquired 55 locomotives from the United States.
However, Pakistan Railways is facing liquidity constraints and is currently focused on repairing and refurbishing its existing fleet rather than making large new purchases. The federal government has recently revised upward a Rs16 billion project aimed at repairing 100 diesel-electric locomotives that frequently break down.
Sources said Gill also requested favourable consideration of Starlink’s licence application to launch high-speed internet services in Pakistan, particularly for rural and remote areas. He conveyed that protecting and advancing US commercial interests remains a priority for the Trump administration and called for a level playing field for American companies.
US officials also welcomed Pakistan’s withdrawal of the proposed 5% digital services tax, which had been introduced in the federal budget but later removed as part of efforts to secure a trade understanding with Washington.
According to the Tribune’s report, in a separate meeting, Thomas Lersten from the US State Department’s Bureau of Economic, Energy and Business Affairs reiterated Washington’s interest in Pakistan’s minerals sector. He proposed joint assessments of reserves and offtake agreements to enable faster extraction, and noted that artificial intelligence is a strategic priority for the United States, with a possible visit to Pakistan by US Under-Secretary of State for Energy Jacob Helberg.
Aurangzeb also met Robert Kaproth, Assistant Secretary of State for International Finance, who asked whether Pakistan’s security agreement with Saudi Arabia would translate into financial inflows. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have signed a defence deal, and Islamabad expects Saudi investment across eight priority sectors.
Kaproth also outlined US interest in private-sector digital finance solutions based on stablecoin frameworks rather than central bank digital currencies, and expressed interest in collaborating with Pakistan on cross-border digital finance systems.
