PESHAWAR: Pakistan reopened the Torkham border crossing on Tuesday under temporary arrangements, allowing the repatriation of undocumented Afghan nationals for the first time in months after a security incident and a series of border clashes halted the process.
International
Pakistan and China issue five-point peace plan to end Iran war
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and China on Tuesday jointly proposed a five-point initiative to restore peace and stability in the Gulf and the wider Middle East, calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities in the US-Israeli war on Iran, the prompt launch of peace talks and the protection of civilian infrastructure and vital shipping lanes.
Dar reaches Beijing to align with China on push for US-Iran talks
ISLAMABAD: China said Tuesday it would strengthen strategic coordination with Pakistan over the Iran crisis, as the deputy prime minister Ishaq Dar arrived in the Chinese capital for a one-day visit aimed at advancing diplomatic efforts to end the month-old war between the United States, Israel and Iran.
India plots false-flag border operation using Pakistani detainees to mask diplomatic reversals
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security officials said on Monday that Indian authorities are preparing a false-flag operation against Pakistan that would press innocent Pakistani detainees held in Indian prisons — including Kashmiris who crossed the border inadvertently — into service as unwitting participants in a staged border provocation.
FM Dar, injured in a fall, heads to Beijing to consult on month-old US-Iran conflict
ISLAMABAD: The deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, will leave Tuesday for an official visit to China even though he suffered a hairline fracture in his shoulder the day before, the Foreign Office said Monday, a move that officials described as a measure of how seriously Islamabad takes its deepening role in trying to end the fighting between the United States and Iran.
Pakistan says US and Iran have expressed confidence in it to host direct peace talks
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, said on Sunday that both Washington and Tehran had voiced confidence in Islamabad’s ability to facilitate talks aimed at ending the Middle East conflict that has engulfed the region since US and Israeli strikes on Iran in late February.
PM Sharif reaffirms ‘unwavering’ support for Saudi Arabia as regional powers meet on Middle East crisis
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday praised Saudi Arabia’s “remarkable restraint” in the face of Iranian missile and drone attacks and assured Riyadh of Pakistan’s steadfast solidarity, as Islamabad hosted a high-level gathering of foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt to discuss ways to end the escalating conflict in the Middle East.
Iran opens Hormuz to more Pakistani ships in gesture Islamabad calls a ‘harbinger of peace’
ISLAMABAD: Iran has agreed to allow 20 additional ships flying the Pakistani flag to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, with two vessels crossing daily, Pakistan’s deputy prime minister said late Saturday in a move that officials here described as a significant confidence-building gesture amid a month-long war that has crippled global energy supplies.
Pakistan hosts key regional ministers as US-Iran diplomatic push accelerates with direct talks possibly days away
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has thrust itself into the center of a high-stakes diplomatic scramble to halt nearly a month of open conflict between the United States and Iran, convening senior diplomats from across the Muslim world in Islamabad this weekend, while signalling that face-to-face American and Iranian talks could begin as early as Tuesday.
Pakistan rejects Indian criticism of its treatment of Shia Muslims as cynical deflection, points to mob lynchings in India
ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Saturday dismissed as “cynical and diversionary” India’s expressions of concern over the treatment of Pakistan’s Shia community, framing the remarks as an attempt to deflect attention from New Delhi’s own record of violence and discrimination against religious minorities.