ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar is in Saudi Arabia to attend the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) meeting that will discuss Israel’s military campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon, state-run media reported on Sunday.
Saudi Arabia will host the extraordinary Arab–Islamic summit between the Arab League and the OIC on Nov. 11 to address Israel’s bombardment and ground offensives in Gaza and Lebanon.
Muslim countries have called on Israel to impose an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East after its military campaigns in Gaza have killed over 43,000 people in the strip and injured thousands more. Its military campaigns in Lebanon and attacks on Iran last month have heightened fears of a wider war in the Middle East.
“Deputy Prime Minister is in Saudi Arabia on an official visit to attend the meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Council of Foreign Ministers,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan said.
It said Dar visited the holy city of Madinah where he offered prayers at the Prophet’s Mosque and prayed for the peace, unity and prosperity of the Muslim Ummah.
Pakistan’s foreign office said this week that the CFM will be a preparatory session for the Nov. 11 summit on Monday, which will be attended by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The Nov. 11 summit will be a follow-up to the Joint Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit held in November 2023 in Riyadh, the foreign office said.
“At the Summit, the prime minister will reiterate Pakistan’s full support to the Palestinian cause,” it said. “He will call for an immediate end to the genocide in Gaza; an urgent and unconditional ceasefire; immediate cessation of the ongoing Israeli adventurism in the region that is endangering the security of the countries in the Middle East.”
On the sidelines of the summit, Sharif is expected to hold bilateral meetings with leaders from other Arab League and OIC Member States.
Pakistan deputy PM in Saudi Arabia to attend OIC meeting on Gaza, Lebanon
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Pakistan deputy PM in Saudi Arabia to attend OIC meeting on Gaza, Lebanon
- Ishaq Dar to take part in OIC Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in Saudi Arabia today
- Pakistan PM to attend Nov. 11 Arab–Islamic summit to show solidarity with Palestine
Pakistan receives $1.2 billion from IMF under EFF, RSF loan programs— central bank
- IMF Executive Board approved Pakistan’s second review under EFF, first review under RSF loan programs this week
- Disbursements from IMF have been crucial for cash-strapped Pakistan as it tries to recover from economic crisis
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s central bank announced on Thursday that it has received $1.2 billion under the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) External Fund Facility and Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) loan programs.
The IMF approved a $7 billion bailout package for Pakistan under its EFF program in September 2024 while in May 2025, it approved a separate $1.4 billion loan to Pakistan under its climate resilience fund. The RSF will support Pakistan’s efforts in building economic resilience to climate vulnerabilities and natural disasters.
The global lender approved Pakistan’s second review under its $7 billion EFF program and first review under the RSF loan on Tuesday. As per the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the central bank received a combined sum of $1.2 billion under the EFF and RSF on Dec. 10.
“The amount would be reflected in SBP’s foreign exchange reserves for the week ending on Dec. 12, 2025,” the SBP said in a statement.
IMF bailouts have been crucial for cash-strapped Pakistan, which has been struggling with a prolonged economic crisis that has exhausted its financial reserves and weakened its currency. Pakistan came to the brink of a sovereign default in 2023 before a last-gasp IMF bailout package helped it avert the crisis.
Pakistan has had to take tough decisions to comply with the IMF’s loan requirements, which include scrapping subsidies from food and fuel items to trigger inflation. Since then, Pakistan has attempted to regain stability by sharply reducing inflation and recording a current account surplus.
The disbursement, however, comes at an important time for the South Asian country as it mitigates losses from a deadly monsoon season that killed over 1,000 people since late June and caused at least $2.9 billion in damages to agriculture and infrastructure.
