South Asia | Pakistan

ISLAMABAD - Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday called for a South Asia where connectivity replaces divisions and regional cooperation drives peace, prosperity, and sus-tainable development.

Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said on Wednesday that multilateralism was “under assault” as stability in South Asia faced various threats, stressing the need for regional cooperation. Speaking at an event in Islamabad, Dar said, “Multilateralism is under assault and the institutions of global governance are often criticised for the acts of omission and commission of a few states driven by unilateralist impulses.” Referring to the four-day conflict with India earlier this year in May, Dar said, “In 92 hours, the Indo-Pakistan war had the potential to escalate to far more dangerous levels.” He said that states had increasingly resorted to the use of force to settle disputes while disregarding international law and the principles of the UN Charter. The deputy premier noted that “emerging technologies, transnational terrorism and hybrid warfare, including misinformation campaigns, continue to challenge stability”. Dar said that India and Pakistan were “involved in a conflagration” that would have gone toward an...

The World Bank said on Tuesday that higher tariffs on Indian goods exported to the US would be a drag on South Asia’s economic growth rate in 2026, even as it remains shielded in the current year by government spending. The World Bank said growth in South Asia was expected to slow sharply to 5.8 per cent in 2026 from its projection of 6.6pc for 2025. Its forecast for the region comprises India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Maldives. “For 2026, the forecast has been downgraded, as some of these effects unwind and India continues to face higher-than-expected tariffs on goods exports to the United States,” the World Bank said in its report. The World Bank has raised its forecast for India’s growth in the current fiscal year ending March 2026 to 6.5pc from 6.3pc, while trimming its projection for the next fiscal year to 6.3pc from 6.5pc due to tariffs imposed by the United States. US President Donald Trump has imposed a 50pc tariff on most exports from India, among the highest for any US trading ...

As Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif detailed the events of May’s four-day escalation between India and Pakistan at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Friday, he highlighted the need for “proactive” rather than “provocative” leadership for South Asia. In May, the military confrontation between India and Pakistan had come as the former blamed Islamabad for the April 22 Pahalgam attack without evidence. On the night of May 6-7, New Delhi launched a series of air strikes on Pakistan, resulting in civilian casualties. Both sides then exchanged missiles, which stretched over the week. It took a US-brokered ceasefire for both sides to finally drop their guns. PM Shehbaz recalled the escalation at the 80th session of the UNGA today, where he led Pakistan’s delegation. He began his address with these words: “Our world is more complex today than ever before. Conflicts are intensifying, international law is being brazenly violated, humanitarian crises are multiplying, terrorism remains a potent threat, disinform...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif termed India’s occupation of Kashmir the “defining conflict” of South Asia as Pakistan marked six years on Tuesday since New Delhi deprived the held region of its special autonomy. Pakistan is observing Youm-i-Istehsal (Exploitation Day) today to mark the sixth anniversary of India revoking Kashmir’s special autonomy and to show solidarity with Kashmiris. On Aug 5, 2019, India’s Narendra Modi-led government stripped the Muslim-majority territory of its special status by repealing Article 370 of the constitution, splitting the former state into two territories directly ruled by New Delhi. “India’s illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir remained the defining conflict of the South Asia region, and the driver of India’s continued rogue behaviour,” PM Shehbaz said in a statement. The premier also recalled the recent India-Pakistan conflict, noting: “India’s unprovoked aggression against Pakistan in May 2025, and its swift and comprehensive military defeat are only the latest evidence...

Life-saving childhood vaccination coverage has stalled in recent decades, leaving millions of children at risk for deadly diseases with Pakistan having the highest number of children with zero doses in South Asia after India, according to a new study by British medical journal Lancet. The Lancet is a 200-year-old peer-reviewed weekly medical journal from the United Kingdom. Since its launch, the journal has expanded into a family of more than 20 speciality journals and has set up several global Lancet Commissions on various important issues in medicine and healthcare. In a press release issued a day ago, the journal said that since its inception in 1974, the World Health Organisation’s Essential Programme on Immunisation (EPI) achieved “unprecedented progress”, averting the deaths of an estimated 154 million children worldwide through routine childhood vaccination. However, it said that as per a major new analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study Vaccine Coverage Collaborators, “Despite the progress of...

Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar has called for resolution of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolutions and aspirations of the Kashmiri people to ensure durable peace in South Asia.

Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed on Friday termed “Pakistani talent and Chinese technology an invincible wall” for peace, security and stability in South Asia during a dialogue held in Islamabad. Pakistan has held strong bilateral relations with China which has supported it through many investments and development projects such as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), termed as a “lifeline” for the country’s economy. The senator’s comment came during a keynote address at the Pakistan-China Dialogue hosted by the Pakistan-China Institute (PCI) under the auspices of the “Friends of Silk Road”, according to a statement by the PCI. The event was attended by diplomats, parliamentarians, students and scholars. Mushahid, who serves as the PCI chairman, observed: “The global balance of economic and political power is shifting from West to East, heralding the Asian Century.” He lauded China’s “peaceful rise as a source of strength for developing nations across Asia, Africa and Latin America” and thanked Beijing fo...

• Bilawal urges world to stand against Indian aggression, says water an existential issue for Pakistan • Ex-US diplomat endorses call for neutral Pahalgam probe, regrets Pak-US ties ‘still stuck in the past’ • VP Vance meets Indian delegation as US officials assure Pakistan of ‘equal representation’ WASHINGTON: As fomer foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari blamed India for pushing South Asia towards the first nuclear war over water, a former US ambassador to Pakistan endorsed Islamabad’s demand for an independent inquiry into the Pahalgam incident, which led to a full-blown conflict between Islamabad and New Delhi. At a policy forum hosted by the Middle East Institute (MEI) in Washington, former US ambassador to Islamabad Anne Patterson stressed that the United States-Pakistan relationship was hindered by mistrust, despite ongoing security cooperation. “The US-Pakistan relationship is so stuck in the past that India was not required to present any forensic or investigative evidence after the Pahal­gam atta...

Head of Pakistan’s diplomatic delegation in New York and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that the delegation's primary agenda is to promote peace in South Asia.

ISLAMABAD - President, Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday emphasised that becoming a nuclear power was not merely a demonstration of the country’s technological advancement—it was a calculated decision to ensure peace through strength, to maintain the strategic balance in South Asia, and to protect the nation against any.

Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar, has reiterated that lasting peace in South Asia hinges on the resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has expressed gratitude to US President Donald Trump for his invaluable offer to play a greater role in bringing lasting peace to South Asia.

Pakistan has called on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to play an active role in de-escalating tensions in South Asia to safeguard regional and global peace.

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif had a telephone conversation with the Amir of Qatar, His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, on Thursday evening and discussed developments in South Asia.

Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar, briefed the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Group of Ambassadors in New York on the evolving security situation in South Asia, highlighting India's recent provocative actions.