Pakistan PM heads to Davos to push dialogue in divided world, court investors

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif speaks at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, April 28, 2024. (Reuters/ file)
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Updated 20 January 2026
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Pakistan PM heads to Davos to push dialogue in divided world, court investors

  • Shehbaz Sharif will participate in the World Economic Forum’s gathering of economic leaders
  • He will also highlight Pakistan’s economic vision, trade prospects and investment opportunities

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will attend the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos from Tuesday, where he is expected to push dialogue in an increasingly divided world while courting foreign leaders and investors as Pakistan seeks to build on recent economic stabilization, an official statement said.

Held in Davos-Klosters, the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting is among the world’s most prestigious global platforms, bringing together heads of state and government, senior business executives, leaders of international organizations and civil society to debate geopolitical, economic, social and environmental challenges.

“Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif will lead a high-level delegation to the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, from 20 to 22 January 2026,” the foreign office said in a statement.

“The Prime Minister’s program includes multiple substantive engagements, including participation in the WEF’s Informal Gathering of World Economic Leaders’ session on ‘Restoring a Spirit of Dialogue in a Divided World,’” it added.

Pakistan has repeatedly called for multilateralism and adherence to the United Nations Charter and international law, cautioning against the growing resort to force as global conflicts multiply and tensions simmer across regions.

Sharif is also expected to hold meetings with world leaders and business executives on the sidelines of the forum, where he will outline Pakistan’s views on global and regional peace and highlight the government’s economic vision, trade prospects and investment opportunities.

The visit comes as Pakistan looks to attract foreign investment and shift toward export-led growth after emerging from a prolonged economic crisis that depleted foreign exchange reserves, strained its balance of payments and sharply weakened the currency.

The government says macroeconomic indicators have improved, an assessment echoed by global credit rating agencies, as the country continues structural reforms under a $7 billion program with the International Monetary Fund.
 


Bangladesh-Pakistan flights resume after 14 years

Updated 29 January 2026
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Bangladesh-Pakistan flights resume after 14 years

  • National carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines departed for Pakistan’s Karachi city with 150 passengers
  • Since 2012, travelers between both nations have used connecting flights to reach their destinations

DHAKA, Bangladesh: Direct flights between Bangladesh and Pakistan resumed on Thursday after more than a decade, as ties warm between the two nations that have long had an uneasy relationship.

Bangladesh and Pakistan — geographically divided by about 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) of Indian territory — were once one nation. They split after a bitter war in 1971.

Since 2012, travelers between Bangladesh and Pakistan had to use connecting flights through Gulf hubs such as Dubai and Doha.

On Thursday national carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines departed for the Pakistani city of Karachi, the first regular flight since 2012.

Mohammad Shahid, one of 150 Karachi-bound passengers on board, said he was happy to be able to travel more frequently than before, when he could only make the journey once every two or three years.

“We had been waiting for such an opportunity because we travel continuously,” he told AFP in Dhaka.

“There are so many people waiting in Pakistan to come here, and some waiting here to go there.”

Direct flights will now operate twice weekly.

Biman said in a statement that their resumption would “play a significant role in promoting trade and commerce, expanding educational exchanges, and fostering cultural ties between the two countries.”

Ties with fellow Muslim-majority nation Pakistan have warmed since a student-led revolt in Bangladesh overthrew Sheikh Hasina in 2024, ending her autocratic 15-year rule.

Over the same period, relations between Bangladesh and Hasina’s old ally India have turned frosty.

Cargo ships resumed sailing from Karachi to Bangladesh’s key port of Chittagong in November 2024.

Trade has risen since then and cultural ties have grown, with popular Pakistani singers performing in Dhaka, while Bangladeshi patients have traveled to Pakistan for medical care.