ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi will visit Tehran on Sunday to discuss the ongoing situation in the Middle East with the Iranian authorities and plead the case for de-escalation in the region.
Qureshi shared his travel plan with senior television anchors during a background meeting in Islamabad on Friday, saying he would also discuss mounting regional tensions with officials in Saudi Arabia and the United States during his upcoming visits to Riyadh and Washington on January 13 and 16, respectively.
It may be recalled that Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday instructed the Pakistani foreign minister to travel to Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United States against the backdrop of mounting tensions in the Middle East to convey his country’s willingness to play a constructive role for peace in the region.
Khan’s announcement on Twitter signified for the first time that his administration was ready to embrace a policy of active engagement in the Middle East in a bid to prevent another conflict in the restive region.
It also indicated the extent of concern among policymakers in Islamabad about the deteriorating security situation in their neighborhood and the likely implications of another regional conflagration for their country.
The prime minister has frequently complained about inheriting a dwindling national economy after winning the last general elections. He has also criticized previous administrations for turning the country into a frontline state and fighting on behalf of other international powers.
Faced with tough economic challenges, his administration believes that any military escalation in the region will negatively impact his country’s economy.
It is in this context that Pakistan’s foreign ministry expressed “deep concern” over the situation in the region after the United States killed a top Iranian commander, Major General Qassem Soleimani, in Baghdad in the beginning of this month.
The army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, also requested all stakeholders “to avoid rhetoric in favor of diplomatic engagement” in the same framework while recently talking to US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper.
Qureshi’s upcoming visit to Tehran, Riyadh and Washington will also be an extension of the same agenda that seeks to prevent yet another conflict in the Middle East.
