Tag: Ishaq Dar

Pakistan convened officials from Turkiye, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia on Sunday to discuss a diplomatic end to the Iran war with cnversations in Islamabad centered on reopening the Strait of Hormuz to maritime shipping.

Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has stated that the regional powers examined “possible ways to bring an early and permanent end to the war in the region.” 

During the first day of sessions, participants received briefings on potential US-Iran talks in Islamabad. The meetings took place as Iran warned the US against a ground attack while global oil prices fluctuate amid fighting between Iran, the US, and Israel.

The foreign ministers have floated proposals to Washington DC regarding maritime traffic in the Gulf to stabilize shipping flows, five sources told an international media outlet. The Strait of Hormuz previously carried one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas, but Iran halted flows following U.S. and Israeli air strikes a month ago.

A Pakistani source informed an international media outlet that proposals, including those from Egypt, reached the White House before the Sunday meeting. These plans reportedly involve Suez Canal-style fee structures.

Two additional Pakistani sources said that Turkiye, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia could form a consortium to manage oil flows through the waterway, while claiming that Pakistan was asked to participate.

A day earlier, Dar held one-on-one meetings with his Turkish and Egyptian counterparts. 

Dar noted that all sides expressed confidence in Pakistan’s role, adding that China “fully supports” the initiative. Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the White House did not provide comment on the matter.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Thursday chaired a meeting of the Committee for Monitoring and Implementation of Conservation and Additional Austerity Measures to review progress on the government’s spending controls.

According to a statement issued by his office, the committee examined the effectiveness of ongoing steps aimed at maintaining fiscal discipline in the current situation.

The meeting reviewed the implementation status of previously approved austerity measures across federal ministries and provincial governments.

Dar expressed satisfaction over the progress made so far, particularly in reducing non-essential expenditure and improving the use of resources, the statement said.

He directed relevant ministries and departments to further strengthen monitoring mechanisms related to the austerity drive and ensure strict compliance with prescribed guidelines.

Participants of the meeting included federal ministers for finance, petroleum, information technology, economic affairs, and information and broadcasting.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Tariq Bajwa, federal secretaries for information technology and petroleum, as well as chief secretaries of the provinces and other senior officials also attended the session.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has issued a formal apology to neighbouring countries for attacks launched since strikes by the United States (US) and Israel.

Speaking on state television, Pezeshkian apologised to nations hit by Iranian strikes but maintained a defiant stance against primary adversaries, stating that Iran would never surrender.

He added that enemies must take their wish for the unconditional surrender of the Iranian people to their graves.

This diplomatic shift follows engagement with Pakistan when deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, held a second telephonic conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi. 

Reports said that Pakistan urged Iran to avoid attacks against Gulf countries to prevent broader regional destabilisation.

Dar specifically reminded his counterpart of Pakistan’s mutual defence pact with Saudi Arabia, noting that shuttle diplomacy had been used to prevent strikes on Saudi territory.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military confirmed a new wave of air strikes on Tehran and Isfahan, claiming that over 80 fighter jets targeted military infrastructure and missile launchers. In Isfahan, security official Akbar Salehi reported that at least eight people, including a woman, were killed in these attacks. 

Iran’s UN Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said that the civilian death toll had reached 1,332, with thousands more injured, accusing the US and Israel of targeting civilian infrastructure. 

Regional spillover also continued as the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targeted an oil tanker named Prima in the Gulf with an exploding drone, alleging the vessel ignored warnings regarding the Strait of Hormuz. 

The IRGC also confirmed strikes on three locations of separatist groups in Iraq’s Kurdish region, warning they would crush any move against Iran’s territorial integrity. 

In neighbouring countries, Qatar’s Defence Ministry announced it intercepted a missile attack, while the Saudi defense ministry destroyed a drone heading toward the Shaybah oil field. 

Iran rejected allegations of attacks against Azerbaijan and Türkiye, labeling the same “false-flag operations”.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has said that Pakistan invoked its strategic defence arrangement with Saudi Arabia to deter further Iranian strikes during the recent escalation involving missile and drone attacks across the Gulf.

Addressing a media briefing at the Foreign Office, he said, “The position in KSA is relatively stable.” He had made similar remarks earlier in the Senate.

Referring to the Pak-Saudi Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement signed in September last year, Dar said, “We have a strategic mutual defence agreement with Saudi Arabia. Everyone knows about that, it is a sovereign agreement and we are bound by that.”

He added, “In view of that agreement, while in Saudi Arabia I immediately sensitised the leadership of Iran that they should keep that in mind.”

The agreement states that an act of aggression against one country will be treated as an act against both and outlines cooperation in deterrence, defence coordination, intelligence sharing and security collaboration.

Dar said Iranian officials had sought assurances that Saudi territory would not be used for attacks against Iran. “They asked for some assurances that their soil shouldn’t be used against Iran. I then had shuttle communication with both Iranian and Saudi sides and got them those assurances,” he said.

“And look, unlike all other countries, Saudi Arabia faced the least attacks other than Oman that was the mediator,” he added.

Commenting on the nature of the strikes, he added Iran had stated it targeted US bases. “Iran says we have attacked American bases. The missiles were not exactly hitting US bases or installations, they also instead fell on airports, hotels, residential areas,” he said.

He also provided details about Pakistani nationals in the region. One Pakistani citizen was killed in Abu Dhabi during the hostilities, he said, without elaborating.

According to Dar, around 350,000 Pakistanis reside in Qatar, while about 1,400 who travelled there for short visits are stranded due to flight disruptions. “Our mission is facilitating them. We are thankful to the Qatari government for its cooperation,” he said.

In Iraq, approximately 40,000 Pakistanis are present, including 3,500 pilgrims. Around 500 in the Kurdistan region have expressed a desire to return, and arrangements are being coordinated.

He said Saudi Arabia hosts about 2.5 million Pakistanis. In Kuwait, 101,000 nationals reside, with 27 visitors currently stranded. About 134,000 Pakistanis live in Bahrain and 18,000 in Jordan, with no reports of stranded individuals in those countries.

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister (FM) Ishaq Dar on Wednesday criticised Israel’s illegal settlements in the West Bank, calling the recent moves “gravely disturbing” and in violation of international law, during a United Nations Security Council meeting on Gaza and the West Bank.

Pakistan, a non-permanent member of the 15-nation council and the only member to accept an invitation to join the Board of Peace, highlighted that Israel’s actions are “null and void” under international law.

The Security Council, meeting in New York a day earlier than scheduled, also called for the Gaza ceasefire to become permanent and warned that Israeli expansion in the West Bank undermines prospects for a two-state solution. 

The session was moved after US President Donald Trump announced that his proposed Board of Peace would convene on Thursday to discuss the future of the Palestinian territories, raising concerns among diplomats about overlapping agendas.

Foreign ministers from the United Kingdom, Israel, Jordan, Egypt and Indonesia also attended the council’s monthly Middle East session, which several Arab and Islamic countries had requested to discuss Gaza and the West Bank ahead of Washington DC meetings.

Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour told the council that annexation would breach the UN Charter and international law, threatening ongoing peace efforts. 

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, meanwhile, said international attention would focus on the Board of Peace meeting rather than the UN session, accusing the council of bias against Israel and asserting Israel’s so-called historical claim to the land.

The Board of Peace was initially envisioned as a small group of leaders overseeing a 20-point US plan for Gaza. Its expanded role, including mediation in other global conflicts, has prompted hesitation among some US allies. While over 20 countries have accepted invitations, partners such as France and Germany have not joined and reaffirmed support for the United Nations.

Deputy prime minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has distanced Pakistan from the 20-point Gaza peace plan announced by United States (US) President Donald Trump, saying it was different from the draft proposed by Muslim countries.

“The 20-point [Gaza peace plan] made public by President Trump is not truly ours and changes have been made to the draft we approved,” Dar said while speaking on the floor of the National Assembly on Friday.

The statement comes a day after it was reported that Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu secured “significant 11th-hour changes” to Trump’s proposal, raising concerns if Pakistan among other Muslim states had previously agreed on a different draft.

According to The Times of Israel, Netanyahu, during the extensive meeting with Trump, managed to secure the changes to the proposal regarding the scope and nature of Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, along with the disarmament of Hamas.

Dar had earlier this week also seemingly distanced Pakistan from the plan. 

Appearing on Geo News a day after Trump, standing alongside Netanyahu, asserted that PM Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir fully backed his Gaza plan, the FM revealed that Islamabad had held detailed discussions with Trump’s team on the proposal and later submitted its amendments to the points shared by Washington.

 
However, he said, the draft did not incorporate all of Islamabad’s amendments.

Just hours before President Trump’s announcement, the premier had welcomed the plan, saying durable peace between the Palestinian people and Israel was essential for regional stability and economic growth.

In a post on X, PM Shehbaz said he was “convinced that durable peace between the Palestinian people and Israel would be essential in bringing political stability and economic growth to the region”.

Now, fate of the plan, in reported absence of Muslim countries’ confidence, remains in balance.

Deputy Prime Minister (PM) and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has called on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), and the broader international community, to act decisively and uphold human dignity while ensuring accountability and justice for the people of Palestine.

Dar, who is currently accompanying PM Shehbaz Sharif for 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session in New York, called Gaza a “graveyard for humanity and the global conscience” in his national statement at the UNSC meeting on the Middle East situation.

“Hospitals, schools and markets lie in ruins. The very fabric of society has been torn apart while over 64,000 lives have been lost and over 100,000 have been injured,” he said, adding that the time for words had passed and it was now the “time for action”.

FM Dar also said that the humanitarian situation in Gaza had reached catastrophic proportions as famine was now a reality, putting over half a million people at grave risk. “Dozens of Palestinians were killed a day, 300,000 people have been uprooted and nearly one million face imminent displacement.”

“The roar of fighter jets, the plumes of smoke from tank fire and the collapse of buildings… what must this relentless violence mean for women, children and the most vulnerable? And what of the hostages caught in the crossfire whose lives hang in the balance?” he asked.

Dar said that the “time for action is upon us”, and called for urgent and concrete measures, including immediate unconditional and permanent ceasefire, full unhindered humanitarian access to Gaza and the immediate lifting of the blockade to allow life-saving aid. He also called for a categorical end to any forced displacement of Palestinians from their lands.

The FM further reaffirmed Pakistan’s unwavering support for the Palestinian people in their just struggle for dignity, justice and self-determination through the establishment of a sovereign, independent and contiguous Palestinian state on pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds al Sharif as its capital.

He also welcomed the two-state solution conference shared by France and Saudi Arabia, and appreciated the recent recognitions of the state of Palestine by numerous member states.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister (FM) Ishaq Dar has said that Pakistan is ready for any possible Israeli misadventure, stating that the country wanted peace but the response it gave to Indian aggression should not be forgotten.

As per the details, Dar, during an interview with Al Jazeera ahead of the emergency Arab-Islamic summit in the aftermath of Israeli strikes in Doha, was asked whether Israel could attack Pakistan next, to which he reminded that India had tried the same and that too with Israeli support.

“We are ready. But again, we want peace. The nuclear-armed state does not want any destabilisation in the region because that will have consequences beyond [the region],” he said, stressing the need for collective efforts for reforms in United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.

Saying that Israel and India were the only countries that did not abide by UNSC resolutions, he emphasised evolving a mechanism in the council for taking practical measures to “control the situation” if its resolutions were not acted upon and implemented.

He also spoke about the possible formation of a united body in the Middle East – apart from the United Nations (UN) structure – to intervene in Gaza.

Responding to a question, the foreign minister said a mechanism could be chalked out per the UNSC. “For example, they have [imposed] very serious sanctions on countries that don’t listen to them. And that is a very severe economic dent or pain they can cause to any country.”

He added that there had been talk along the lines of “some sort of combined security force” during recent interactions among Arab nations. “Why not? What’s wrong with that? They should have a combined force. And according to their own capacity, own strength, they should create some mechanism.”

But it would be for peaceful purposes, Dar said, explaining that its mandate would be to stop the occupier. For “stopping someone who just doesn’t listen”, he added.

When asked where would “nuclear-powered Pakistan” stand with that, Dar said that the country, as a member of the Muslim Ummah, “would discharge its duty”. With the interviewer asking the FM to elaborate, he clarified that Pakistan saw nuclear weapons only for deterrence and didn’t intend to use them.

“We have no intention of using it; it is only a deterrence […] but Pakistan has a very large, known, very effective army, very effective air force, very effective navy… we have proven that we can beat our opponent even conventionally, if challenged.”

Speaking of the strikes in Qatar, Dar said Israel’s reasons to attack a sovereign country were “totally baseless”. He pointed out that Qatar was mediating talks, along with the US and Egypt, for peace in Gaza when that attack happened.

He reiterated that Israel’s actions were rogue, and highlighted that Israel had attacked multiple countries in the Middle East with no regard to resolutions of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the UN Security Council.

“That means [the] multilateral system needs very serious reforms right now… this is the need of the hour. I think the UN Security Council, as well as the UN system itself needs very serious reforms.”

“The UN Security Council is meant to maintain peace in the world. And if its resolutions are just put in the bin, as it is happening since so many years — [by] Israel in Gaza and Palestine and by India in Kashmir… what do we expect from the multilateral system?”

When asked if all Muslim countries in the world were carrying equal weight and “doing the jobs they should be doing”, Dar said Pakistan believed that no matter how big or small a state was, their “dignity and respect should be equal”.

In this connection, he also gave the example of India, mentioning that “some country had claimed to have hegemony, to be the net security provider, to be the captain of the entire region”.

“But you saw what happened between May 7 and 10. It’s all settled. The hegemony is buried,” he added, clarifying that military action by Pakistan at the time was in self-defence.