Pakistan | News

ISLAMABAD - The foreign ministers of Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye yesterday welcomed the signing of the historic Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the United States and Iran, describing it as a significant breakthrough for regional diplomacy and a constructive step toward de-escalation in the Middle East.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan’s extraordinary diplomatic intervention in the Middle East has emerged as one of the most consequential peace efforts in recent history, earning widespread international acclaim and reinforcing Islamabad’s stature as a pivotal force for regional and global stability.

ISLAMABAD - A photograph showcasing the top tier of the banned Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group lounging at the luxury InterContinental Hotel in Kabul has provided undeniable, concrete proof of Pakistan’s longstanding stance that anti-Pakistan militant groups are not only operating from Afghan soil but are enjoying premium, high level.

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Egypt on Sunday welcomed the signing of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the US and Iran during a Regional Four (R-4) meeting in Cairo, emphasising the importance of achieving a “swift and successful” conclusion to the subsequent phase of negotiations. The meeting came the same day as Pakistan, along with c0-mediator Qatar, hosted delegations from the US and Iran in Switzerland for high-level technical talks ironing out the details of the MoU. On Friday, the FO had announced that Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar would attend the fourth meeting of foreign ministers in Cairo on June 21 at the invitation of his Egyptian counterpart. In a joint statement issued by the participating nations, shared by the Foreign Office on X, the R-4 meet which convened in Cairo on Sunday at the invitation of Egypt, welcomed the signing of the Islamabad MoU. The participating nations viewed the important development as a “constructive step towards de-es...

Pakistan is targeting the training and deployment of 300,000 to 400,000 workers for projects linked to the FIFA World Cup 2034 which will take place in Saudi Arabia as part of a broader strategy to expand overseas employment opportunities and strengthen the country’s position in international labour markets. According to official documents available with Wealth Pakistan, workforce planning is being aligned with anticipated demand arising from the FIFA World Cup 2034, with trained Pakistani workers expected to support infrastructure development, aviation, tourism and related service sectors between 2026 and 2034. The initiative forms part of the government’s wider efforts to boost manpower exports and enhance the skills profile of Pakistani workers for overseas employment. During July-March FY2025-26, a total of 215,719 workers received soft-skills training aimed at improving adaptability, productivity and global employability. The documents indicate that overseas employment remains a key pillar of Pakistan’s ...

ISLAMABAD: Setting a rapid pace for judicial appointments, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) has formally invited nominations to fill 10 vacant positions of additional judges in the Lahore High Court (LHC). The move comes just a day after the commission approved the Inter­views of Judges Appointment Rules, creating a specialised seven-member panel to vet prospective candidates for the superior judiciary. According to an official communication circulated by the JCP Secretariat, nominations on the prescribed format have been sought for the LHC benches and must reach the commission by July 4. Sources told Dawn that following the compilation of these nominations, the JCP is scheduled to convene intensive sessions from July 21 to 23 to evaluate and finalise selections for the Lahore, Sindh, and Balochistan high courts. Concurrently, candidate recommendations for the Peshawar High Court (PHC) are being finalised and are expected to be placed before the commission during the same period. The swift procedural...

Deputy Prime Minister / Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Saturday, received a telephone call from Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan Bakhtiyor Saidov who appreciated Pakistan’s efforts as a mediator and acknowledged its significant contribution to advancing international peace efforts, as well as promoting regional peace and.

Earlier this week, the US and Iran finally reached an agreement to stop the war. Pakistan, which played a central role in said agreement has been acknowledged and praised by the international community. But is this where it ends for the country? Or can the Shehbaz-led government convert the diplomatic visibility and influence into that rare opening that actually guarantees dividends? Before we answer that question, however, it is important to acknowledge that the agreement, brokered after weeks of intense diplomacy between the United States and Iran, is not a peace treaty. It is an interim framework that has merely paused a dangerous confrontation and created a 60-day negotiating window during which the most difficult questions, including sanctions relief, nuclear restrictions, and regional security arrangements, will have to be addressed. The fragility of the arrangement was evident even before its conclusion, with disagreements linked to Lebanon threatening to derail the process at a late stage, and Qatar e...

United States President Donald Trump has said that Pakistan “really helped” Washington with the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Iran. He made the remarks during an interview with American news outlet Axios. During the interview, the US president was asked about which global leaders he “liked”. In addition to Chinese President Xi Jinping, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump talked about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, before mentioning Pakistan’s leadership. “In Pakistan, you have the field marshal, who is great. Munir, he’s great. And you have the prime minister, and they just get along great … He totally respects the prime minister. It’s a beautiful thing to see,” he said, talking about Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir. “But they really helped us with this deal. They knew the Iranians, they knew the people and they were good,” he said. During the interview, Trump was also asked about the lessons he had learned about the “li...

At least 10 people lost their lives and several others were injured in weather-related incidents across different parts of Pakistan as strong winds and heavy rain caused accidents and damage to infrastructure.

UNITED NATIONS - Gaza remains in a perilous state, Pakistan told the UN Security Council as the 15-member body shifted its focus back to the dire humanitarian situation in the war-shattered enclave, which had been overshadowed by wider regional developments.

UNITED NATIONS - Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad handed over a letter from the Deputy Prime Minister & Foreign Minister, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, to Ambassador Leonor Zalabata Torres of Columbia, president of the Security Council for June, concerning India’s continued “illegal actions and.

Pakistan has formally approached the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), urging it to take notice of what it describes as India's violations of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) and warning that New Delhi's actions could threaten Pakistan's water security and regional stability.

RIYADH: Muslim-majority countries including regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Turkiye said on Thursday that they held Israel responsible for arson attacks on two West Bank mosques, which Palestinian officials said were torched by settlers. The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the UAE, Qatar, Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt and Turkiye lambasted “the continued and escalating settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank”, pointing to the mosques that were set on fire a day earlier. “The Ministers hold Israel — as the occupying power — responsible for these attacks,” they said in a joint statement. On Wednesday, Israeli settlers set fire to mosques in the West Bank villages of Jiljiliya, north of Ramallah, and neighbouring Mazari an-Nubani, their mayors said, with journalists at one site seeing scorched walls and graffiti. Israel’s military confirmed the arson and graffiti on the mosques, but did not identify the perpetrators. Journalists who visited one torched mosque saw graffiti d...

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Thursday that at least 17 projects by India on waterways part of the Indus River System would give New Delhi the “tools for hydro-hegemony”. Dar’s statement has come at a time when water and the Indus Waters Treaty remain a contentious issue between India and Pakistan, following New Delhi’s unilateral abeyance of the accord last year — a move that followed a brief military conflict between the two sides in May 2025. More recently, Indian Water Minister CR Patil said his country was working to ensure “not a single drop of water” would flow into Pakistan. Meanwhile, Pakistan has maintained that any attempt to change the flow of cross-border waterways would be considered an “act of war”. It was against this backdrop that Dar’s keynote address, touching upon the matter, was played at a seminar titled “Transboundary Water Resources: A Weaponised Global Common”. The seminar was jointly organised by Pakistan’s embassy in Brussels and the Centre for Europea...

A delegation from Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD met Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and emphasised Pakistan’s growing potential as a market for new energy vehicles, according to a statement issued by the finance ministry on Thursday. The delegation was led by BYD Group Vice President and General Manager for Asia Pacific Auto Sales Division Liu Xueliang and Mega Motor Company (MMC) Chief Executive Officer Aly Khan. Last year it was announced that BYD planned to roll out its first car assembled in Pakistan by July or August 2026 to capture growing demand for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in the region. According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance, the finance minister welcomed the delegation and appreciated BYD’s expanding footprint in Pakistan. He underscored the importance of strengthening business-to-business cooperation as a key pillar of Pakistan-China economic relations. “The finance minister said Pakistan attaches high priority to attracting technology-driven investments and...

ISLAMABAD - Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar yesterday announced that Pakistan is facilitating the repatriation of 30 Iranian nationals, reaffirming the country’s commitment to humanitarian cooperation and regional goodwill.

Electricity consumers across Pakistan will now receive bills in a redesigned and simplified format aimed at improving readability and ease of understanding.

Pakistan has facilitated the repatriation of 30 Iranian nationals, including eight fishermen, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar announced on Wednesday.

The United Kingdom has announced an additional £8 million in funding to strengthen cooperation with Pakistan in combating illegal migration, human smuggling and organised crime, while also acknowledging Islamabad’s role in facilitating recent diplomatic engagement that contributed to a US-Iran understanding.