ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had another conversation over phone within a week on Monday.
“The two leaders discussed a range of bilateral matters and exchanged views on current regional & international issues. Both sides agreed to remain in contact and continue cooperation on areas of mutual interest”, said the Foreign Office in a statement but did not give details about the conversation between the two leaders.
The Pak-US telephone exchange comes on the heels of the departure of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian after a two day State visit to Pakistan. During his visit here, Foreign Minister Dar called on him separately and according to diplomatic sources the issue of exchange of messages between the United States was among one of the topics which came up for discussion.
Earlier, after meeting the US Secretary of State in Washington, Dar held a lengthy telephone discussion with the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and there were speculations that the US-Iran conversation was raised. Actually, it was Marco Rubio and not Dar that made public the fact that Pakistan was acting as a bridge between arch rivals Tehran and Washington, and later Islamabad did not deny it. However, till date no details of the role Pakistan is playing to facilitate the two states have been made public.
Acting as a bridge is not something new to Pakistan and both times there were strong army chiefs who supported the policies. Pakistan, unknown to the world arranged for Dr. Kissinger to fly from Islamabad to Beijing, which started a new era in US-China ties. “The Trump administration is aware of the role Pakistan played in the past and has chosen the same path, this time with Iran”, sources in Washington confided to The News. It started with Rubin’s comments after he met Dar in Washington. Rubio expressed appreciation for Pakistan’s “continued willingness to play a constructive role in mediating conversations with Iran”.
When the Spokesperson at Foreign Office was asked during the weekly media briefing about Rubin’s remarks in Iran he responded, “Iran is our close friend and a brotherly neighboring country. We remain committed to making positive contribution to bring the tensions down and promote diplomatic solutions to problem. We are open to play that role, and we will continue to play that role.”
Monday’s telephone call has not been lost on a politician who watches Pak-US foreign policy closely. On X , former PTI minister, Fawad Chowdhury remarked, “The Economist has recognised Pakistan Global relevance, MIshaqDar50 and SecRubio third talk in less than ten days shows Pakistan is playing a pivotal role in Iran-USA diplomatic reconnect. Truly appreciable … keep it up”.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, called the recent storming of Al-Aqsa mosque by Israeli ministers as a “shameless act” which was deliberately inflaming tensions in Palestine and the wider region, pushing the Middle East closer to further instability and conflict.
Pakistan, said the Prime Minister “unequivocally condemns, the recent act of storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli ministers, accompanied by settler groups and shielded by Israeli police. This sacrilege against one of Islam’s holiest sites is not only an affront to Muslims worldwide but also a direct assault on international law and the collective conscience of humanity”.
As a shocked Muslim world watched helplessly, the PM pointed out that systematic provocations by the occupying power, coupled with reckless calls for annexation, imperils the prospects for peace. Israel’s shameless actions are deliberately inflaming tensions in Palestine and the wider region, pushing the Middle East closer to further instability and conflict. “Pakistan reiterates its urgent call for an immediate ceasefire, an end to all acts of aggression, and the revival of a credible peace process leading to an independent and viable State of Palestine, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, in accordance with international law and relevant UN resolutions”, he added.
The foreign minister also did not mince his words and condemned in the strongest possible terms, the provocative and deeply offensive desecration of Al Aqsa Mosque by thousands of Israeli settlers, including senior Israeli ministers, officials, and members of the Knesset, shielded by brutal Israeli occupying forces. “The presence and statements of senior Israeli officials, and the repugnant declaration that “the Temple Mount is ours,” are a dangerous and deliberate attempt to provoke religious sentiments across the world, escalate tensions, and alter the status of Al Aqsa Mosque”, he said. Pakistan accuses Israel’s expansionist attempts as a deliberate effort to destabilise the region and sabotage any meaningful path to peace. “These provocations risk igniting a catastrophic spiral of violence across the region. The world must not remain silent in the face of such systemic, illegal, inhumane, and unlawful aggression. Such actions constitute a blatant violation of international human rights and humanitarian laws, the UN Charter, as well as various UN and OIC Resolutions”, he said.
Pakistan urged the international community, particularly the United Nations, to take immediate and concrete steps to hold Israel accountable for its illegal actions and to protect the religious sanctity of Al Aqsa Mosque and the rights of the Palestinian people, in particular the right to self-determination.“Pakistan reaffirms its unwavering support for the creation of a sovereign, independent, viable, and contiguous Palestinian State based on pre-June 1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital”.