ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, Pakistan’s chief of army staff and chief of defence forces, met Thursday to review the country’s mediation efforts aimed at forging a lasting peace between the United States and Iran, just a day before delegations from both nations are expected to arrive here for direct negotiations.
Politics
World leaders thank Pakistan for halting U.S.-Iran fighting and reopening Strait of Hormuz
ISLAMABAD: World leaders, European governments and international institutions on Wednesday thanked Pakistan for its central role in brokering a two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran, a fragile pause in weeks of fighting that had threatened to choke off global energy supplies and destabilize the Middle East.
Imran Khan holds court-ordered jail meeting with lawyer as opposition alliance postpones protest and demands releases, dialogue
ISLAMABAD: Barrister Salman Safdar, the lawyer representing former prime minister Imran Khan in the Al Qadir Trust case, met Thursday with the imprisoned Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder inside Adiala jail, one day after the Islamabad High Court ordered prison authorities to arrange the encounter.
Opposition leaders rally behind government’s mediation in US-Iran ceasefire, calling off planned protest
ISLAMABAD: In a striking display of cross-party unity rarely seen in Pakistan’s polarised parliament, the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly on Wednesday offered the government unconditional support for its diplomatic efforts to help secure a ceasefire between the United States and Iran, while the main opposition party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, abruptly canceled a major protest rally scheduled for the following day.
China says Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to halt escalation after week of talks in Xinjiang
ISLAMABAD: China said on Wednesday Pakistan and Afghanistan have committed to preventing any further escalation in their simmering border conflict, following a week of informal trilateral meetings hosted by Beijing in the Xinjiang region.
US and Iran set for direct talks in Islamabad on Friday, testing fragile two-week truce
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday said delegations from Washington and Tehran would arrive in the Pakistani capital as soon as Friday at his invitation, aiming to transform a fragile two-week ceasefire into a lasting settlement.
Trump and Iran accept Pakistan-brokered two-week pause in fighting, with talks set for Islamabad
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Wednesday that the United States and Iran, along with their allies, had reached an immediate ceasefire across the Middle East, including in Lebanon, after weeks of intensifying conflict that began with American and Israeli strikes on Iranian targets in late February.
Sharif asks Trump to delay Iran deadline by two weeks to salvage diplomacy
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif appealed directly to President Donald Trump on Tuesday to grant Iran a two-week extension on a looming US deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and reach a deal with Washington, warning that failure to allow more time for diplomacy could derail a fragile peace process in the Middle East.
Police arrest Imran Khan’s sisters in crackdown on attempted protest outside his prison
ISLAMABAD: Authorities arrested two sisters of imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan on Tuesday as they and dozens of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party supporters tried to demonstrate outside Adiala jail, where he has been held for nearly two years under tight restrictions on visits from family and lawyers.
Russia and China veto UN resolution urging protection of shipping in Strait of Hormuz
ISLAMABAD: Russia and China vetoed a Security Council resolution on Tuesday that called for coordinated international action to protect commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and demanded that Iran immediately halt its attacks on merchant vessels and civilian infrastructure.