https://www.scmp.com/rss/522684/feed The latest news and top stories on Ishaq Dar, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. A politician and chartered accountant, he assumed his current role in March 2024, with the additional charge of Deputy Prime Minister in April 2024. He has a long career in public service, notably serving four terms as Finance Minister, where he focused on economic stabilisation, fiscal discipline and attracting foreign investment. His responsibilities now include navigating complex international... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Shi Jiangtao Shi Jiangtao By issuing a joint five-point plan on the Iran crisis on Tuesday, China and Pakistan have laid out what Chinese analysts described as a “feasible path” towards a ceasefire and renewed diplomacy. At the same time, the move quietly signalled an early effort to shape the post-war Middle East order in a region where the long-standing US-dominated security framework was already facing growing strain and uncertainty, the observers said. In recent weeks, regional powers have emerged as mediators to... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3348700/what-does-china-pakistan-plan-iran-crisis-mean-post-war-order?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3348700/what-does-china-pakistan-plan-iran-crisis-mean-post-war-order?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Apr 2026 13:00:09 +0000 Tom Hussain Tom Hussain Pakistan is hoping that its role in building a diplomatic off-ramp from the US-Israel war on Iran will enable it to become a key actor in the Middle East after the conflict ends, analysts say. If Islamabad can deliver without being sucked into the maelstrom, it can capitalise on its position as peacemaker by signing defence deals with Gulf monarchies and attracting investment from them to strengthen its weak economy. This will help finance Pakistan’s military expansion for its envisioned new... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3348621/pakistan-eyes-gulf-investment-defence-deals-return-playing-peacemaker-iran-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3348621/pakistan-eyes-gulf-investment-defence-deals-return-playing-peacemaker-iran-war?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Apr 2026 05:21:16 +0000 Shi Jiangtao,Khushboo Razdan Shi Jiangtao,Khushboo Razdan China said on Tuesday it would enhance “strategic coordination” with Pakistan on the Iran crisis to promote dialogue and help end the conflict as Islamabad’s top diplomat Ishaq Dar arrived in Beijing. Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Dar to discuss ways to de-escalate regional tensions and to formally launch a joint five-point initiative aimed at restoring peace and stability in the Gulf and the Middle East. Key points of the plan include a call for an immediate ceasefire, a halt to attacks on... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3348571/china-pledges-strategic-coordination-pakistan-help-end-us-war-iran?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3348571/china-pledges-strategic-coordination-pakistan-help-end-us-war-iran?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 31 Mar 2026 13:05:51 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday that Israel will widen its invasion of southern Lebanon. Netanyahu said Israel would expand what he called the “existing security strip” in Lebanon as Israeli forces continue to target the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group. “We are determined to fundamentally change the situation in the north,” he said on a visit to northern Israel, adding that “Hezbollah still has residual capability to fire rockets at us”. There were no immediate... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3348324/netanyahu-says-israel-will-widen-its-invasion-southern-lebanon?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3348324/netanyahu-says-israel-will-widen-its-invasion-southern-lebanon?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 Mar 2026 17:59:50 +0000 Tom Hussain Tom Hussain Iran’s nuclear-armed neighbour Pakistan has invoked its mutual defence pact with Saudi Arabia in response to Tehran’s missile and drone attacks on the kingdom, in what analysts have described as a key test of Islamabad’s emerging role in the Middle East’s security architecture. A gently worded warning to the Islamic Republic, delivered by Ishaq Dar, Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, has established Islamabad as a go-between to manage the escalation. Briefing the Senate on... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3345466/pakistan-aims-walk-tightrope-between-saudi-arabia-and-iran-war-flares-region?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3345466/pakistan-aims-walk-tightrope-between-saudi-arabia-and-iran-war-flares-region?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Mar 2026 13:22:39 +0000 Cao Jiaxuan Cao Jiaxuan China’s top diplomat has accused the United States of acting like the world’s policeman and condemned US military strikes on Venezuela as a serious violation of international law and sovereignty. Foreign Minister Wang Yi made the remarks on Sunday during high-level talks in Beijing with Ishaq Dar, the deputy prime minister and foreign minister of Pakistan. Wang said the international landscape was becoming increasingly volatile, marked by growing unilateralism and what he described as bullying... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3338723/chinas-wang-yi-accuses-us-playing-international-policeman-venezuela?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3338723/chinas-wang-yi-accuses-us-playing-international-policeman-venezuela?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Jan 2026 04:20:19 +0000 Asma Khalid Asma Khalid At the Islamabad Conclave earlier this month, Ishaq Dar, Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, urged a rethink of how South Asia approaches security, trade, climate and connectivity. He called for practical cooperation, disaster response mechanisms and economic integration rather than allowing old rivalries to dictate every interaction. This reimagined vision for South Asia seems to have emerged from a renewed confidence in Pakistan given that the country has recently achieved a... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3335741/how-pakistans-rising-confidence-could-shape-cooperative-south-asia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3335741/how-pakistans-rising-confidence-could-shape-cooperative-south-asia?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Dec 2025 21:30:09 +0000 Khushboo Razdan Khushboo Razdan China turned a brief but intense India-Pakistan conflict in May into a live testing ground for its advanced weaponry and intelligence systems, and then aggressively marketed those results to undercut Western arms sales, a US congressional panel said in its annual report on Tuesday. “Beijing opportunistically leveraged the conflict to test and advertise the sophistication of its weapons,” a new report from the bipartisan US-China Economic and Security Review Commission stated bluntly. It... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3333321/china-leveraged-india-pakistan-conflict-trial-and-tout-its-military-strengths-says-us-panel?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3333321/china-leveraged-india-pakistan-conflict-trial-and-tout-its-military-strengths-says-us-panel?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 Nov 2025 22:26:11 +0000 Resty Woro Yuniar Resty Woro Yuniar Indonesia has backed US President Donald Trump’s controversial plan to end the war in Gaza, presenting it as a constructive step towards resolving the two-year conflict and easing humanitarian suffering in the besieged enclave. But the decision has stirred backlash at home, with analysts suggesting that Indonesia – long a vocal supporter of Palestinian statehood – may have stepped into a “diplomatic trap” that benefits Israeli and US interests more than those of Palestinians. “The government’s... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3328242/did-indonesia-fall-diplomatic-trap-over-trumps-gaza-peace-plan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3328242/did-indonesia-fall-diplomatic-trap-over-trumps-gaza-peace-plan?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Oct 2025 10:30:09 +0000 Tom Hussain Tom Hussain A proposal by US President Donald Trump to end the war in Gaza is already under fire, just days after its release, over last-minute changes pushed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that critics say could undermine Arab-Islamic support and derail the path to peace. Analysts say the “principles for peace” deal, unveiled on Monday, risks alienating the very Arab and Muslim nations the pact depends on – by allowing Israeli forces to occupy most of Gaza indefinitely unless Palestinian... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3327517/will-trumps-gaza-peace-plan-work-netanyahus-changes-spark-arab-islamic-unease?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3327517/will-trumps-gaza-peace-plan-work-netanyahus-changes-spark-arab-islamic-unease?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Oct 2025 09:30:37 +0000 Tom Hussain Tom Hussain When Israeli jets tore through Doha’s skies last week, striking a residential block that housed Hamas negotiators, they may also have set in motion something Israel has long feared: the birth of an Arab military alliance. The proposal, under discussion at an emergency Arab-Islamic summit that opened in Doha on Sunday, marks the most serious push towards regional military integration in decades. Diplomatic sources and Arab media reported that the summit was poised to endorse the creation of a... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3325543/arab-nato-israels-qatar-strikes-give-arab-militaries-reason-unite?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3325543/arab-nato-israels-qatar-strikes-give-arab-militaries-reason-unite?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Sep 2025 04:10:50 +0000 Reuters Reuters More than 300 people were dead in northwest Pakistan after two days of intense rains and floods, local officials said on Saturday. Rescue efforts and clearing of blocked roads were ongoing with the release of emergency funds, they said, adding that the heavy rains would continue until Thursday. Cloud bursts, flash floods, lightning strikes, landslides and the collapse of buildings caused the deadliest spell of this year’s monsoon season. By early Saturday, 307 were confirmed dead, with more... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3322090/over-300-killed-2-days-pakistan-heavy-rain-triggers-flood-boulders?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3322090/over-300-killed-2-days-pakistan-heavy-rain-triggers-flood-boulders?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 Aug 2025 09:34:21 +0000 Zhao Ziwen Zhao Ziwen The meeting in the eastern Chinese city of Qingdao last month was the first time that cabinet ministers from Pakistan and India had been in the same room since a deadly conflict in early May. The defence ministers from the two neighbours were in China under the umbrella of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a regional political, security and economic group. This week it was the turn of SCO foreign ministers, who met in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin. It, too, was a rare... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3318723/can-china-backed-sco-convince-india-and-pakistan-resolve-their-differences?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3318723/can-china-backed-sco-convince-india-and-pakistan-resolve-their-differences?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 18 Jul 2025 13:00:10 +0000