Pakistan 2026

Pakistan-Afghanistan 2026

15 April
Pakistani delegation arrives in Tehran in move to ease tensions and arrange more US-Iran talks
(AP) … Pakistan has emerged as a key mediator in the conflict after it hosted rare direct talks between the U.S. and Iran in Islamabad, a move authorities said helped narrow differences between the two sides. …
In other developments, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived in Saudi Arabia on an official visit to discuss regional issues. A statement from Sharif’s office said he was received at the airport in Jeddah by senior Saudi officials. Sharif was accompanied by Pakistan’s foreign minister and information minister.

10 April
Why Pakistan has emerged as a mediator between US and Iran
(AP) … Since Washington and Tehran agreed to an initial 14-day ceasefire on Tuesday, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and the powerful army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir have been sharing messages about conversations with world leaders, highlighting their role as mediators. President Donald Trump has repeatedly referred to Munir as “my favorite field marshal” since last year, when he helped mediate a ceasefire between Pakistan and India.
Islamabad isn’t often called on to act as an intermediary in high-stakes diplomacy, but it’s stepped into the role this time for a number of reasons, both because it has relatively good ties with both Washington and Tehran and because it has a lot at stake in seeing the war resolved.
Pakistani government officials have said that their public peace effort follows weeks of quiet diplomacy, though they have provided few details. The talks are expected to take place in Islamabad on Saturday following the arrival of both delegations. Pakistan ramped up security across the city with additional troops and police.
Pakistan helped US deliver an initial 15-point plan to Iran
Pakistan’s role in Iran-U.S. negotiations surfaced a few weeks ago following media reports. Officials in Islamabad later acknowledged that a U.S. proposal had been conveyed to Iran.
It remains unclear who has served as Iran’s point of contact in the indirect talks.
According to Pakistani officials, U.S. messages were being passed to Iran and Iranian responses relayed to Washington, though they did not specify how the process was being handled or who was directly communicating with whom. Pakistan said that Turkey and Egypt were also working behind the scenes to bring the sides to the negotiating table.

9 April
US Dominance in the Middle East Is ‘Basically Over’
Maleeha Lodhi has represented Pakistan in Washington, London, and at the United Nations. She says brokering US-Iran talks shows Pakistan has emerged as a geopolitical player.
(Bloomberg) After nearly six weeks of war, how did Pakistan manage to get the United States and Iran to talk? Maleeha Lodhi was Pakistan’s ambassador to the US on 9/11, a moment that reset the relationship between the two countries. Now, she says, personal relationships have made Islamabad the region’s only viable peace broker. For her, this weekend’s talks also carry wider significance, as middle powers take on a larger role in shaping global politics.
Before we get to those points, I want to explore the relationships that Pakistan has with the United States, and with Iran. First — the relationship between Munir and Trump. How was that bond formed?
This personal relationship between the two came about very early in Trump’s second term, with the first early win that Pakistan handed to him. It arrested, and then extradited, the terrorist who was responsible for the bombing in Kabul during the American evacuation from Afghanistan. Trump was so taken by this gesture that he chose to mention this in his first address to Congress.
During the conflict between India and Pakistan, once Trump played a role in defusing it, Pakistani leaders kept saying how grateful they were to Trump. Then of course, announcing a Nobel Peace Prize [nomination] for him — which I personally was a critic of — seemed to do the trick. Trump became even closer to the Pakistani leadership, particularly Munir.
There were also sweetheart business deals. Pakistan [offered] to open up the country for mining for critical minerals, which they knew was really very high up on Trump’s agenda.
All of that together helped Pakistan emerge as the mediator.

Pakistan’s high-stakes Iran peace bid is fraught with risk
By Saad Sayeed and Ariba Shahid
Pakistan’s role as host is complicated by security concerns
Analysts say Pakistan has influence but question leverage
Failure could reverse rise in country’s diplomatic standing
(Reuters) – Pakistan is under huge pressure to pull off what some diplomats regard as mission impossible: broker a peace deal between Iran and the United States to stabilize the world economy while safeguarding delegates already arguing over a fragile ​truce.
Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif engaged in weeks of diplomacy to halt a war that could deepen instability along Pakistan’s western border ‌with Iran and Afghanistan, with which it has recently exchanged fire.

2 April
My peaceful fight for Baloch rights in Pakistan goes on
No home in Balochistan is safe and enforced disappearances are widespread.
Mahrang Baloch
Pakistan is once again caught between allies and adversaries.
(Times of India) Islamabad finds itself pulled between powerful partners and dangerous neighbourhood realities, between competing risks. As war between Iran and the Gulf states continues to spiral, Islamabad’s response has been strikingly cautious. Officials insist there is “no question” of rushing to Saudi Arabia’s defence, even as they reaffirm a long standing strategic pact with Riyadh.Time and again, it has aligned with stronger powers in conflicts that promised influence, aid or strategic leverage, only to face instability and blowback at home
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/balochistan-afghanistan-iran-is-pakistan-running-out-of-strategic-room/articleshow/129981854.cms
(Times of India) Pakistan is once again caught between allies and adversaries. Islamabad finds itself pulled between powerful partners and dangerous neighbourhood realities, between competing risks. As war between Iran and the Gulf states continues to spiral, Islamabad’s response has been strikingly cautious. Officials insist there is “no question” of rushing to Saudi Arabia’s defence, even as they reaffirm a long standing strategic pact with Riyadh.Time and again, it has aligned with stronger powers in conflicts that promised influence, aid or strategic leverage, only to face instability and blowback at home

31 March
Pakistan Weighs Hormuz Options After Iran Clears 20 Ships
By Bilal Hussain, Yongchang Chin and Weilun Soon
(Bloomberg) –Pakistan is considering options that include allowing other ships to ferry vital cargoes under its flag, after Iran said it would allow 20 of the nation’s vessels through the Strait of Hormuz — more than it currently has in the area.
After discussions between Tehran and Islamabad, Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said in a post on X over the weekend that Iran had allowed the country to take 20 vessels “under the Pakistani flag” out through the Hormuz waterway. …

29-31 March
Pakistan balances China and U.S. relations as it plays Iran peacemaker
(Globe & Mail) After quadrilateral talks in Islamabad over the weekend with Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, aimed at bringing Tehran and Washington to the table, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday flew to Beijing to brief his Chinese counterpart on efforts to end the Middle East conflict.
… Speaking to reporters in Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning confirmed Mr. Dar and Mr. Wang would discuss the war in Iran, adding, “China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic co-operative partners, with a relationship based on mutual trust and mutual support.”
Pakistan, which is in the midst of its own bloody war against Afghanistan, has emerged as an unlikely interlocutor in the Iran conflict, drawing on good relations with Tehran, Washington and a host of other regional power players.
Israeli strikes and US troop buildup put Pakistan’s peacemaker role under pressure
Saeed Shah
Islamabad is attempting high-wire diplomacy between US and Iran, but Israel could spoil any chance of success
(The Guardian) Pakistan’s de facto leader, military chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, has Donald Trump’s ear, and Islamabad’s ties with Tehran have dramatically improved over the past couple of years.
Intensifying Israeli bombing of civilian targets in Iran and an expanding US military force in the Gulf are casting a dark shadow over Pakistan’s hopes of hosting peace talks between Iran and the US.
Pakistan is attempting high-wire diplomacy, using its relative neutrality as a country with good relations with Iran and the US, to provide a venue for negotiations. It is not a player in the Middle East and does not host any American military bases, so it does not bring the baggage of other potential regional mediators.

28 March
Pakistan to host talks with Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt amid Iran war diplomacy
Four nations to discuss de-escalation in Islamabad talks
Pakistan seen as potential venue for US-Iran talks
Islamabad has been shuttling messages between Washington and Tehran
(Reuters) – Pakistan ​will host Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt for talks from Sunday ‌on the Iran war as Islamabad positions itself as a potential venue for U.S.-Iran negotiations on the month-old conflict.
The four countries’ foreign ministers will hold “in-depth discussions on a range of issues, ​including efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region” during the two-day talks, ​Pakistan’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

Pakistan secures Iran deal to send 20 ships through Strait of Hormuz
(Al Jazeera) Islamabad’s diplomatic push bears fruit as the world watches for signs of a broader breakthrough

26 March
After Wooing Trump With Deals, Pakistan Gets a Seat at the Table
Steve Witkoff, a diplomatic envoy, used the Board of Peace to announce an agreement that could raze a Pakistan-owned Manhattan hotel. Now the country is involved in negotiating peace talks with Iran.
(NYT) It was the latest bond that Pakistan forged with the Trump administration, part of a broader strategy of wooing the president and his inner circle.
At President Trump’s inaugural Board of Peace meeting in Washington last month, his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, unveiled a promising new partnership with Pakistan.
It was not a governmental decree against terrorism or war. Rather, it was an unorthodox real estate deal involving a shuttered hotel in Midtown Manhattan.
A former real estate developer now assigned to negotiate peace around the world, Mr. Witkoff brokered the unusual arrangement between the United States and Pakistani governments to explore the redevelopment of the Roosevelt Hotel, a once glamorous building that Pakistan owns.
While the Trump administration has not made the terms of the deal public, a White House official briefed on the matter described it as a potentially lucrative partnership between the two governments to co-own the property.

24 March
JD Vance role touted as Pakistan attempts to broker US-Iran peace talks
Diplomatic sources say negotiations may begin in Islamabad next week, though no formal agreement is in place
(The Guardian) Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, says his country is ready to “facilitate meaningful and conclusive talks” to end the war in the Middle East amid attempts to push Islamabad as a possible venue for negotiations between the US and Iran.
Pakistani sources said the US vice-president, JD Vance, was being put forward as a probable chief negotiator from the US side if talks went ahead. Iranian sources have said they would refuse to sit down with Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, or Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who led the nuclear negotiations with Iran before the war.
Officials in Pakistan said the US and Iran could meet for negotiations in Islamabad as early as this week to discuss an end to the war, which began almost a month ago.
Sources said Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, was the most likely to lead any talks from the Iranian side. However, Ghalibaf has so far dismissed reports of talks between the two sides as “fake news”.

28 January
Imran Khan’s health in ‘grave danger’ after eye blockage diagnosis, party says
(The Guardian) PTI reports Pakistan’s jailed former PM being denied proper medical treatment and visits from family and lawyers
Khan, 73, considered Pakistan’s most high-profile political prisoner, has been in jail since August 2023. He is serving sentences for corruption and leaking state secrets, which he has claimed are part of a state-sponsored campaign to keep him out of power.
Khan has largely been kept in solitary confinement, according to his lawyers and party leaders, who said they have been denied access to him for the past three months.