ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is expanding its engagement across the Middle East, Central Asia and ASEAN as part of a broader recalibration of its foreign policy in a shifting global order, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar said on Tuesday.

Pakistan has in recent years intensified outreach to Gulf states and regional partners as it seeks to deepen trade, investment and energy cooperation while stabilizing its economy. The Middle East remains a key source of remittances and strategic partnerships for Islamabad.

The renewed diplomatic push also comes as Pakistan begins its 2025–26 term on the United Nations Security Council, where officials say the country will advocate conflict resolution, civilian protection and support for a two-state solution for Palestine.

Speaking at the Pakistan Governance Forum 2026 in Islamabad, Dar said Islamabad was strengthening strategic partnerships worldwide while prioritizing sovereignty, security and national interests.

“Pakistan is strengthening strategic partnerships worldwide — deepening our all-weather cooperation with China, reinvigorating ties with the United States, and expanding engagement across the Middle East, Central Asia, ASEAN, and beyond,” Dar said, according to highlights of his address shared by the Foreign Ministry.

He added that “economic diplomacy and climate action are central to our global engagement,” citing trade, IT, minerals, halal sectors and climate finance as priorities.

Dar also reiterated Islamabad’s position that regional peace in South Asia was “inseparable from a just resolution of Jammu & Kashmir, in line with UN Security Council resolutions and the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people.”

Referring to Pakistan’s election to the UN Security Council with 182 votes, he said the country would champion peaceful conflict resolution, counterterrorism and “a just two-state solution for Palestine based on pre-1967 borders with Al Quds Al Sharif as capital.”