Asim Munir’s lavish trips to Sri Lanka, Indonesia. How the elite live their best life as Pakistan struggles

Pakistan Asim Munir is raising eyebrows.

Pakistan’s army chief and Field Marshal is jet-setting around the world at a time when his country is going through a financial crisis.

Munir, who went to Washington to meet Donald Trump at the White House and was seen shopping at a high-end mall, is now off to Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

Munir’s lunch at the White House was first time that a US President has made such an invite to the head of the Pakistan Army who is not head of state.

Let’s take a closer look at Munir’s upcoming trips and why they are raising eyebrows.

Lavish vacation in Sri Lanka, trip to Indonesia

Munir is set to visit Sri Lanka from July 20 to July 23.

According to reports, this isn’t so much of a diplomatic foray as much as it is a state-funded luxury vacation.

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Munir will fly to Sri Lanka on board a special aircraft. He will then be given ceremonial bike escorts and be taken on luxury tours.

He will also enjoy several helicopter rides. Munir is slated to visit the Sigiriya Rock Fortress and Adam’s Peak in Sri Lanka.

Munir will also go to the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, visit tour the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic and the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kandy.

Munir is slated to be put up in one of the most lavish hotels in Colombo.

This comes as Islamabad has imposed a strict austerity program even for its senior ministers.

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This includes cabinet ministers not being allowed to travel abroad or be put up at luxury hotels.

All non-essential spending has also been halted.

Munir will be meeting Sri Lanka’s Deputy Minister of Defence, Defence Secretary, and President.

However, all this extravagance is already overshadowing his trip.

Munir had originally planned to make a trip to Sri Lanka in December last year.

However, that trip was postponed due to “unforeseen urgent commitments”.

Sri Lanka isn’t the only stop on Munir’s itinerary.

The Pakistan Army Chief is also heading to Muslim-majority Indonesia later on this month.

Those in the know have said Munir is aiming to revive bilateral ties between Islamabad and Jakarta.

Munir will likely meet top lawmakers in Indonesia.

This comes as Jakarta is growing closer to New Delhi.

Indonesia Egypt and Bahrain in May blocked Islamabad’s attempts to push a strong reference against India over Kashmir during a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Parliamentary Union.

Munir’s trip comes as a speculation of coup – made even more fervent by his elevation to Field Marshal – within Pakistan runs rampant.

The only other person to be appointed Field Marshal in the history of Pakistan was General Ayub Khan.

Khan appointed himself to the position after he took Pakistan’s presidency following a military coup.

Pakistan’s financial woes

All this comes as Pakistan continues to struggle financially with inflation and unemployment surging, debt ballooning and the country experiencing power cuts.

Its external debt is now $130 billion – which is around half of its GDP.

Islamabad in May received a $1 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – making it the fourth-largest borrower from the organisation.

Nearly half of its revenue goes to interest payments on loans alone, as per the Economic Survey 2024–25.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s lawmakers also received a nearly 500 per cent pay hike in June from  the Shehbaz Sharif-led government.

The monthly salary of the National Assembly speaker and the Senate chairman is now around $12,000 (Rs 10 lakh).

With inputs from agencies