Analysis
Pakistan
seeks to raise its global standing in push for Middle East peace
Saeed
Shah
in
Islamabad
Islamabad
has seized chance to act as mediator in Iran war and hopes to reap diplomatic
and economic benefits
Mon 20
Apr 2026 14.42 BST
As
Pakistan works frantically to narrow differences between Iran and the US in its
newfound role as global peacemaker, it is also seeking to recast its diplomatic
standing and attract business.
Pakistani
officials, mediating between an unpredictable US president and hardliners in
Tehran, were on Monday trying to coax both sides to put the conditions in place
for a second round of talks in Islamabad this week, including easing the
standoff in the strait of Hormuz. Pakistan was optimistic that the meeting
would happen, viewing objections voiced by the Iranian side and Donald Trump’s
threats as posturing for domestic audiences.
At stake
is not only regional peace, but also Islamabad’s own concerns about becoming
dragged into the war and its dependence on energy supplies shipped from the
Gulf.
Often
portrayed as an international problem child, under threat from religious
extremism and with an economy perennially on the brink, Pakistan seized the
opportunity of its relative neutrality in the conflict to take the role of
“adult in the room”.
A
three-day visit to Tehran last week by Pakistan’s powerful military chief,
Field Marshal Asim Munir, helped produce a ceasefire in Israel’s attacks on
Lebanon, and a short-lived breakthrough on opening the strait of Hormuz.
Pakistani
officials expect concessions from the two camps, including on Iran’s nuclear
programme, the trickiest dispute. If an agreement is reached, Pakistan is
hopeful that Trump and the Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, will fly to
Islamabad to sign the deal.
A
security cordon was reinstated around the centre of Islamabad on Sunday, with
roads closed and the two big hotels there emptied of guests in order to house
the Iranian and US delegations – if they return.
The only
nuclear-armed country in the Muslim world, with an army of 600,000 soldiers,
Pakistan believes it has been punching below its weight. As a new multipolar
order takes shape, Pakistan is seeking greater sway, using its military heft to
counterbalance the longstanding weaknesses of an anaemic economy and tumultuous
politics.
The
opening was provided by the Trump administration’s need for an interlocutor
with Iran, a task that Munir took on after a surprise June 2025 meeting at the
White House with Trump. For Iran, Islamabad’s diplomatic support during last
year’s 12-day conflict with Israel cemented ties.
Ali
Sarwar Naqvi, a former senior Pakistani diplomat now heading the Centre for
International Security Studies, a thinktank in Islamabad, said Iran did not
have faith in traditional European diplomatic venues, such as Geneva and
Vienna, to host the talks. “Pakistan has the confidence of all the permanent
members of the [UN] security council. And Pakistan also has the trust of Iran,”
said Naqvi. “Pakistan is a big country, with nuclear capability, and it is
strategically located.”
For
decades, Pakistan has managed to balance close ties both with Beijing and
Washington, and has maintained a deep partnership with the Gulf states.
Pakistan was able to call on China to provide assurances to Iran to enter into
peace negotiations.
Zamir
Akram, a former Pakistani ambassador, said Pakistan’s embassy in Washington had
represented Iranian interests there since the 1979 revolution, while Pakistan
had set up secret talks in 1971 that led to the establishment of diplomatic
relations between China and the US.
“Pakistan’s
role today does not come out of the blue,” said Akram. “Pakistan’s job now is
to make sure that both sides believe they are getting an honourable exit.”
Even in
the midst of its high-wire diplomacy, Pakistan’s economic vulnerability has
been on display in recent days, with daily power cuts to save money and an
emergency $3bn (£2.2bn) loan taken from Saudi Arabia. There is hope that with
greater global stature, Pakistan could attract more investment, though that
would also depend on economic reforms such as lower taxes and more robust laws.
Joshua
White, a former White House official who is now a professor at Johns Hopkins
University, said Washington’s traditional policy-making process would have
flagged that Pakistan had a difficult relationship with Iran and that it lacked
leverage.
“Pakistan
has been sophisticated and obsequious in engaging the Trump administration,”
said White. “The decision-making process in Washington today is highly
personalised, and highly dependent on the president’s instincts, perspectives
and proclivities. And the Pakistani leadership, to their credit, have taken
full advantage.”
Elizabeth
Threlkeld, a former American diplomat who is director for south Asia at the
Stimson Center, a US thinktank, said Pakistan’s stock had risen in Washington
through its performance in the conflict with India last year, its more active
role in the Middle East that included joining Trump’s Board of Peace
initiative, and the defence deal it signed last year with Saudi Arabia.
“So long
as Pakistan does not set unrealistic expectations for the outcome of talks and
is able to host them without incident, it stands to gain from simply providing
an opportunity for the two sides to come together and has little to lose in the
process,” Threlkeld said.
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário