Islamabad (TDI): Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday revealed that a number of Arab and non-Arab countries have expressed interest in concluding security agreements with Pakistan, similar to the recently signed “strategic mutual defense” pact with Saudi Arabia.
Speaking in parliament, Dar said several foreign ministers had raised the proposal with him on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. While likening the potential network of bilateral pacts to an “Eastern Nato,” he acknowledged that such decisions would take time and stopped short of explaining how individual arrangements could evolve into a multilateral bloc.
“It is my faith that Pakistan will one day lead the Islamic ummah,” he declared. “Allah Almighty has made you a nuclear and missile power, now you are to become an economic power,” stressing that unity would be critical to achieving this goal.
Dar said negotiations on the Saudi defense pact had been underway for over a year and a half, beginning under the previous PDM government. “We are fortunate to have been included among the defenders of Haramain Sharifain,” he remarked.
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He also read aloud a joint statement, issued in consultation with seven other Muslim countries in New York, which called for unrestricted humanitarian aid to Gaza, a ban on Palestinian displacement, complete Israeli withdrawal, reconstruction of the war-battered enclave, and a credible two-state solution that integrates Gaza with the West Bank. He noted that the Palestinian Authority had endorsed the plan.
Responding to opposition criticism over the presence of British-Pakistani activist Shama Junejo at UN-related events, Dar clarified that she was not part of the official government delegation. “Her role was confined to civil society interactions and did not represent state policy,” he said.
Dar also briefed lawmakers on Pakistanis aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla, which was seized by Israeli forces last week. He condemned the interception as a breach of international maritime law and humanitarian principles, adding that Islamabad was working through diplomatic channels, including with an “influential European country”, to secure their safe release.
The flotilla, carrying hundreds of international activists and politicians, among them former Pakistani senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan and Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg, had set sail last month in a bid to deliver aid to Gaza.
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The Israeli navy intercepted the group’s final boat on Wednesday, effectively ending the mission. Officials said more than 400 activists were prevented from reaching the territory. According to the military, all 42 vessels were stopped in an operation lasting about 12 hours, with detainees taken to Israel’s Ashdod Port.
