ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has arrived in New York to attend a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting on multilateralism and global governance, state-run media reported on Monday.
The meeting will be chaired by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Feb. 18, as China holds the council’s rotating presidency for the month. The deliberations come at a time of growing concerns about multilateralism, particularly after United States President Donald Trump’s return to the White House, and a growing number of conflicts around the world.
“Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Foreign Minister (FM), Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, flew into New York on Sunday afternoon to participate in the high-level meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on multilateralism and global governance set for Tuesday,” the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported on Monday.
APP said Pakistan welcomes the “timely initiative” by China to hold the meeting, saying that it underscores the critical importance of multilateralism in addressing today’s global challenges.
The Pakistani deputy prime minister will reaffirm Pakistan’s strong commitment to the principles of multilateralism and the central role of the United Nations in promoting international peace, security, and sustainable development, the state-run media said. He will also highlight Pakistan’s priorities as a non-permanent member of the Security Council, emphasizing the importance of dialogue, cooperation, and inclusive global governance.
Pakistan was elected as a non-permanent member of the UNSC for the 2025-2026 term in June 2024 with 182 out of 193 votes and officially began its two-year tenure on January 1, 2025.
“On the sidelines of the UNSC meeting, the DPM/FM is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts, as well as senior UN officials,” APP said.
Dar is also expected to give interviews to media and hold a press conference for US-based Pakistani journalists.
Pakistan’s deputy PM in New York to attend Security Council meeting on multilateralism
https://arab.news/zmz7m
Pakistan’s deputy PM in New York to attend Security Council meeting on multilateralism
- Pakistan to reaffirm strong commitment to multilateralism in meeting scheduled to be held on Feb. 18
- Summit comes at a time of growing concerns about multilateralism amid increasing conflicts worldwide
No casualties as blast derails Jaffar Express train in Pakistan’s south
- Passengers were stranded and railway staffers were clearing the track after blast, official says
- In March 2025, separatist militants hijacked the same train with hundreds of passengers aboard
QUETTA: A blast hit Jaffar Express and derailed four carriages of the passenger train in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province on Monday, officials said, with no casualties reported.
The blast occurred at the Abad railway station when the Peshawar-bound train was on its way to Sindh’s Sukkur city from Quetta, according to Pakistan Railways’ Quetta Division controller Muhammad Kashif.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bomb attack, but passenger trains have often been targeted by Baloch separatist outfits in the restive Balochistan province that borders Sindh.
“Four bogies of the train were derailed due to the intensity of the explosion,” Kashif told Arab News. “No casualty was reported in the latest attack on passenger train.”
Another railway employee, who was aboard the train and requested anonymity, said the train was heading toward Sukkur from Jacobabad when they heard the powerful explosion, which derailed power van among four bogies.
“A small piece of the railway track has been destroyed,” he said, adding that passengers were now standing outside the train and railway staffers were busy clearing the track.
In March last year, fighters belonging to the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) separatist group had stormed Jaffar Express with hundreds of passengers on board and took them hostage. The military had rescued them after an hours-long operation that left 33 militants, 23 soldiers, three railway staff and five passengers dead.
The passenger train, which runs between Balochistan’s provincial capital of Quetta and Peshawar in the country’s northwest, had been targeted in at least four bomb attacks last year since the March hijacking, according to an Arab News tally.
Pakistan Railways says it has beefed up security arrangements for passenger trains in the province and increased the number of paramilitary troops on Jaffar Express since the hijacking in March, but militants have continued to target them in the restive region.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s southwestern province that borders Iran and Afghanistan, is the site of a decades-long insurgency waged by Baloch separatist groups who often attack security forces and foreigners, and kidnap government officials.
The separatists accuse the central government of stealing the region’s resources to fund development elsewhere in the country. The Pakistani government denies the allegations and says it is working for the uplift of local communities in Balochistan.
