While Trump hailed their “truly great friendship” on a day of sweeping pomp and circumstance, Xi used his state visit to lay down China’s red lines on AI, Taiwan and the war on Iran.

Behind the pageantry — and symbolic gestures like Trump taking Xi inside his Marine One helicopter — the talks were focused on tensions that continue to divide the world’s two largest economies.

In his opening remarks with Trump, Xi said the two countries must ensure there is “no conflict and no confrontation between us”. Xi also warned that the development of artificial intelligence should be “always under human control” — in contrast to Trump, who has repeatedly dismissed warnings that AI could threaten humanity itself.

Trump’s remarks struck a warmer tone, underscoring the US president’s long-term efforts to woo the Chinese leader.

“President Xi and I have made tremendous strides on the issues facing our two countries,” Trump said after greeting Xi for his first visit to the White House in over a decade.

The 80-year-old Trump said that the pair would “discuss pressing issues concerning security, technology, and super intelligence – SI,” his name for artificial intelligence.

‘Prudence’

But later as they met in the Oval Office, Xi urged Trump to show “prudence” and oppose independence for the flashpoint of Taiwan.

The Chinese leader also urged Trump to end the war on Iran “through negotiation as soon as possible.”

Few breakthroughs are expected during Xi’s state visit. Instead the trip is more about the spectacle as the world’s two biggest economies seek manage points of friction.

A formal welcome on the White House South Lawn launched Thursday’s events, before Trump and Xi inspected a military parade on the newly paved-over Rose Garden.

American military jets — including a B-2 bomber of the type that bombed Iranian nuclear facilities last year — then staged a flyover as US and Chinese flags flew over the West Wing.

In the Oval Office, Trump joked that the Chinese had the friendliest press corps.

His comment came days after he barred outlets CNN, MS Now and Politico from the White House — although they returned on Thursday after a court order.

Trump later walked Xi out to see the new helipad he has built at the White House, and took the Chinese leader aboard his helicopter — one of the most exclusive and sensitive pieces of US military equipment.

‘Great meeting’

“We had a great meeting,” Trump said, as the pair ignored questions on subjects including Iran, Taiwan, fentanyl trafficking and jailed Hong Kong pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai.

Trump added that Xi was an “expert on stone aside from many other things and he loves good granite,” referring to the material used for the helipad, which he has boasted will last a million years.

Trump will later throw a state dinner for Xi attended by top US tech CEOs.

The menu features yellow squash veloute, sesame crusted sea bass, and vanilla cremeux with White House honey ice cream, the White House said.

The charm offensive began Wednesday as Trump personally greeted Xi at the airport — the first time in more than six decades that a US president welcomed a foreign head of state in person at Joint Base Andrews near Washington.

Trump said that the 73-year-old Xi looked “strong, vibrant, and fit,” following recent rumors about the Chinese leader’s health.

But the flattery masked tensions over thorny topics including the trade war between the world’s top two economies sparked by Trump’s tariffs.

In a small sign of progress, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday announced a two-month extension of a trade truce that was due to expire in November.

State-run APP reported, citing sources, that the Afghan Taliban attempted to enter the Pakistani territory in Balochistan’s Gulistan sector and carry out an act of aggression. Meanwhile, officials also reported attacks on some border posts in Pakistan.

The APP report said in retaliatory action, several Afghan Taliban fighters were killed.

Intermittent exchange of fire between security forces and Afghan Taliban was ongoing after midnight, according the sources cited in the report.

There has been an uptick in tension at the Pak-Afghan border lately.

Pakistan conducted precision aerial and drone strikes in 10 locations across Afghanistan in retaliation for drones launched from the neighbouring country a day earlier, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said in the early hours of Thursday.

Pakistan’s response came after eight drones, launched from Afghanistan, entered Pakistani airspace near the Torkham border and Kohat on Wednesday. Security sources said they were subsequently shot down. It was also reported that the Afghan Taliban engaged in unprovoked firing the night before near Kurram as security forces foiled an attempt by terrorists to cross into Pakistan.

On Sept 21, Pakistan, in response to recent terrorist attacks in KP, conducted “calibrated” airstrikes in the border region with Afghanistan against terrorist hideouts and safe havens of terrorist organisations.

A statement from the information ministry on Monday said that over 28 terrorists were eliminated in the strikes. “It is a matter of grave concern that Afghanistan continues to remain a hub of terrorism,” the ministry said at the time, specifying that the “threat to Pakistan emanates from Afghanistan”.

The airstrikes had come after a major attack in the old Police Lines in KP’s Kohat claimed 23 lives and injured about 100 others. Eight terrorists were killed during an overnight clearance operation launched to clear the area.

Ghazab lil-Haq

Tarar described Pakistan’s action as part of its ongoing counter-terrorism campaign, Ghazab lil Haq.

On the night of February 26, following unprovoked firing by the Afghan Taliban from across the border, Pakistan launched Operation Ghazab lil Haq against terrorist hideouts.

Pakistan also carried out strikes in the border region with Afghanistan in late June, with the government saying they were in response to a wave of terrorist attacks, including one on a Rangers camp in Karachi.

At the time, Tarar said that 25 terrorists were killed in those strikes in Paktia, Paktika and Kunar.

Pakistan had carried out similar strikes on terrorist hideouts along its border with Afghanistan earlier that month, killing 26 terrorists.

In July, security forces responded to unprovoked firing by the Afghan Taliban at border posts in Kurram, security sources had said. In the same month, the Afghan Taliban regime launched four rudimentary drones across the border into Balochistan, which were shot down by security forces. Two drones were also shot down in June in Qila Abdullah and Chagai districts.

Pak-Afghan ties

As clashes continue, tensions between Islamabad and Kabul have remained high. Islamabad has repeatedly urged the Taliban administration in Kabul to dismantle terrorist sanctuaries on Afghan soil, particularly those linked to the banned TTP, that are used for attacks in Pakistan. Officials say those appeals have gone unheeded.

Earlier this week, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar addressed a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), where he called for steps towards concrete and verifiable action to prevent the use of Afghan soil for terrorism against any neighbouring country, particularly Pakistan.

Dar said Pakistan was “seriously concerned” about the presence of over two dozen terrorist groups in Afghanistan that threatened regional and international peace and security.

Last week, Pakistan also told the UN Security Council that it would respond to terrorist threats emanating from Afghanistan in self-defence as and when needed and in accordance with international law.

Earlier this month, the Foreign Office (FO) declared that meaningful progress in relations with Kabul would depend on the Taliban taking concrete and verifiable action against Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other terrorist groups operating from Afghan territory.

It maintained that while Islamabad welcomed China’s continuing engagement, the external facilitation could not substitute for action by Kabul against terrorist infrastructure.

According to a UN Security Council-mandated monitoring report — covering the period from December 16, 2025 to June 9, 2026 — Afg­han Taliban’s continued support for TTP has contributed to a rise in the frequency and lethality of terrorist attacks in Pakistan, even as Kabul has taken some initial steps to rein in the group.

The report also pointed to growing operational and facilitation linkages among the TTP, Al Qaeda, Islamic State-Khorasan (ISIL-K) and the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA).

Additional input from Saleem Shahid

The ban was notified in a Sept 24 order by Karachi Commissioner Hassan Naqvi.

The notification, seen by Dawn, cited letters by the police.

The letters reported “that protests, demonstrations, sit-ins and rallies are being held on major roads, junctions and roundabouts, causing severe traffic congestion and posing serious security concerns. Such road blockages are disrupting routine public life, impeding the movement of emergency services and restricting access to hospitals”, according to the notification.

“There is reasonable apprehension that the holding, organising or facilitating of such gatherings, rallies, protests, demonstrations, processions and assemblies may obstruct public roads and thoroughfares, disrupt normal civic and commercial activities, cause inconvenience to the general public and traffic congestion, impede access to hospitals, and result in untoward incidents and deterioration of the law-and-order situation,” it said.

It was, therefore, considered “necessary and expedient to impose preventive restrictions for a specified period to avert any possible untoward incident, maintain public peace and tranquility, safeguard the lives and property of citizens, ensure public safety and security, and facilitate the uninterrupted movement of the general public and essential services”, the notification said.

It added that Section 144 was being implemented in the city, with a restriction on holding, organising, convening, facilitating or participating in any protest, demonstration, sit-in, rally, procession or other public gathering involving more than five people from Sept 24-30.

The restriction has also been imposed in Sukkur and Hyderabad till Sept 29.

Similar measures have been imposed elsewhere in the country ahead of PTI’s Sept 27 protest.

Punjab has already imposed a ban on gatherings across the province for 13 days and prohibited inciting people to “unlawful assembly”. A similar ban under Section 144 has been enforced in Islamabad as well for two months.

Gatherings in the federal capital are also banned under the Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Act 2024, which had been rushed through the National Assembly amidst the opposition’s outcry ahead of a PTI gathering.

The Balochistan government has also imposed Section 144 throughout the province for a 30-day period, citing reports indicating the likelihood of activities and gatherings that may adversely affect law and order and safety and security of the public.