Pakistan’s diplomatic standing rises, but internal challenges threaten progress

Pakistan’s diplomatic star is rising. After years in which its international reputation suffered because of its own mistakes and what the article describes as hostility from some neighbours, the country is now being recognised for diplomatic finesse, bringing adversaries together and contributing to regional peace.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s recent visit to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Council of Heads of State summit highlighted that changing position. Pakistan has assumed the SCO chair, and Islamabad will host the next summit. During the gathering, Sharif met leaders from across the Eurasian bloc, including those of Russia and China.

Pakistan’s role was also highlighted at the first formal meeting of the Makkah Defence Alliance in Istanbul. The country has been selected to head the pact’s secretariat. The alliance extends a defence agreement signed with Saudi Arabia last year, a move that also drew international attention. The article identifies Pakistan’s effort to bring Iran and the United States to the negotiating table in Islamabad in April as perhaps its biggest recent diplomatic achievement. Although violence has since flared again between the two countries, it says the Islamabad memorandum of understanding remains widely viewed as the strongest route to peace.

But the editorial argues that these diplomatic gains will have limited value without peace and prosperity at home. Pakistan continues to face two major terrorist insurgencies, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. The economy is more stable than it was previously, yet sustainable growth remains out of reach, while political instability continues to weigh on the country. The article calls for space for all political forces and points to security, economic policy and political reconciliation as areas Pakistan can control. Regional integration remains difficult while India and Taliban-ruled Afghanistan are hostile neighbours, Iran and the Gulf face war, and Pakistan has little influence over events in the Gulf.