Top diplomats from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt are meeting in Islamabad on Sunday as part of a fresh push to find a way out of the raging conflict in the Middle East.
The month-old war in Iran has drawn in over a dozen countries and sent shockwaves through the global economy.
Continued U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory strikes have meanwhile killed thousands of people.
The meeting between the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Egypt marks a shift from informal contacts to structured talks.
Convened at the invitation of Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar, the ministers are to use the consultations to “review the evolving regional situation and discuss issues of mutual interest,” according to a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry.
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On Saturday, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a phone call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and discussed diplomatic outreach for peace and dialogue.
That followed an announcement by Dar on Thursday, in which he said Islamabad was relaying messages between the United States and Iran to de-escalate tensions.
Pakistan shares an around 900-kilometre-long border with Iran and has offered to act as a mediator since the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran spread to the wider region.
Sharif’s office said the prime minister shared with the Saudi foreign minister Pakistan’s extensive diplomatic outreach during the current crisis, including the mediation efforts for de-escalation and bringing both the US and Iran to the negotiating table.
“The Prime Minster appreciated the remarkable restraint exercised by Saudi Arabia amid the current crisis and assured the Saudi Foreign Minister that Pakistan would always stand shoulder to shoulder with Saudi Arabia,” Sharif’s office said in a statement.
“While emphasizing the Kingdom’s leadership role in the Muslim Ummah, the Prime Minister stressed upon the need to forge unity within the Islamic countries at this critical time.”
The Saudi foreign minister shared with the prime minister the latest Saudi perspective on the regional situation, according to the statement.
“Pakistan and Saudi Arabia agreed to continue to coordinate their positions closely in order to secure peace and stability in the region,” it added.
NAN
