ISLAMABAD: In a small corner of Pakistan’s state news agency newsroom in Islamabad, editors spend their days translating headlines into Arabic, tracking developments across the Middle East and selecting stories they believe will resonate from Riyadh to Cairo.
The team forms part of a quiet but increasingly strategic effort by the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) to strengthen its Arabic-language service at a time when Islamabad is deepening political, economic and diplomatic engagement with Arab states across the Gulf and wider Middle East.
Pakistan has long maintained close ties with countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar through labor migration, religious links, defense cooperation and economic partnerships. But officials say those relationships have increasingly evolved into broader strategic engagement involving regional diplomacy, trade, investment and security coordination.
That role has become more visible in recent months as Pakistan emerged as a key intermediary in efforts linked to the US-Iran crisis, coordinating closely with Gulf capitals and China amid fears of a wider regional conflict affecting global energy supplies and shipping routes.
Against that backdrop, APP officials say the agency’s Arabic service has taken on growing importance as a platform to communicate Pakistan’s perspective directly to Arab audiences.
“We believe that language plays a vital role in diplomacy and international understanding,” APP News Director Shumaila Andleeb told Arab News.
“The Arabic News Service of Associated Press of Pakistan can be better termed as an important bridge between the media landscapes of Pakistan and the Arab world.”
The photograph taken on May 23, 2026, shows an exterior view of the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) head office in Islamabad, Pakistan. (AN)
Launched in 2005, APP’s Arabic service operates alongside the agency’s Urdu and English news operations, as well as regional-language services in Sindhi, Pashto, Balochi, Saraiki and Brahvi. APP also runs a Chinese-language service as Pakistan expands ties with Beijing.
Officials say the Arabic desk recently underwent a broader digital revamp as Pakistan sought to strengthen its international media outreach, particularly across the Gulf.
“We are highlighting Pakistan’s perspective on regional and international developments while also promoting culture, tourism and economic progress,” Andleeb said.
The service operates with a team of five people, including a supervisor and four sub-editors, who rely on APP’s Urdu and English news services for reporting while adapting content for Arabic-speaking audiences.
Data shared by APP’s Arabic News Service showed readership has grown steadily in recent months, with the platform attracting around 80,000 unique visitors in March and more than 100,000 visitors in both April and May 2026.
The Arabic desk team works at their desks inside the newsroom of the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) in Islamabad, Pakistan, on May 23, 2026. (AN)
PAKISTAN PERSPECTIVE
Pakistan is home to one of the world’s largest overseas labor diasporas in the Gulf, with millions of Pakistanis working across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and other Arab states. Gulf countries are also among Pakistan’s largest sources of remittances, financial assistance and energy imports.
APP officials say the agency maintains news exchange agreements with more than 40 international organizations, including Gulf-based media outlets such as the Saudi Press Agency, Emirates News Agency and Egypt’s Middle East News Agency.
“We have bilateral agreements on news sharing with Gulf agencies,” said Muhammad Waseem, who heads APP’s Arabic News Service and has worked at the agency since 2007.
“We use their material where relevant to Pakistan and also share our content with them … We focus on important developments involving Pakistan, especially its relations with Arab countries.”
Much of the desk’s daily work involves translating reports from APP’s Urdu and English services into Arabic, though editors say stories are often rewritten to better reflect the political and cultural interests of Arab readers.
The photograph taken on May 23, 2026, shows an exterior view of the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) head office in Islamabad, Pakistan. (AN)
Coverage intensifies during major diplomatic visits, bilateral agreements and the annual Hajj pilgrimage season, when hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis travel to Saudi Arabia.
“We pick stories that are important for the Arab world and present Pakistan’s perspective accordingly,” said Dr. Saif ur Rehman, an editor at the desk who holds a doctorate in Arabic from the National University of Modern Languages.
Despite its expanding role, the Arabic service remains largely confined to APP’s website platform and does not yet have a dedicated social media presence.
But in a region where media influence increasingly shapes diplomacy and public perception, officials say the service represents a broader effort to ensure Pakistan’s voice is heard more directly across the Arab world.
“There is no doubt that the relationship between Pakistan and Arab countries is historic and brotherly,” Waseem said in Arabic. “Pakistan wants to deepen this relationship.”
