Deputy PM Dar flies to Beijing amid push for regional peace

Pakistan vs China – (Web Desk) – Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar flew to Beijing on Tuesday. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi personally invited him. This is Dar’s second visit to China this year alone.

The trip comes at a tense time. A war is going on between the US, Israel and Iran. Pakistan has been quietly working behind the scenes to help ease the crisis. Islamabad recently hosted top ministers from Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Egypt. It has also been passing messages between Washington and Tehran. That puts Pakistan right at the center of a very complicated situation.

In Beijing, Dar and Wang Yi will sit down to talk. They will look at how Pakistan and China are working together. They will also discuss what is happening in the region right now.

There is something important driving this visit. Iran wants strong guarantees before agreeing to anything with the United States. Many people believe China could play that role. Washington based scholar Vali Nasr has pointed this out. So has Mushahid Hussain Syed who leads the Pakistan China Institute. He said China’s role right now is “very important” and that Beijing is well placed to be a guarantor for any ceasefire deal.

Pakistan and China have long called their relationship an all weather partnership. That means they stick together through good times and bad.

One more thing worth noting. Dar injured his shoulder just a day before this trip. Doctors told him to rest. He went anyway. That says a lot about how seriously Pakistan takes this relationship with China.

The visit comes at a time when Pakistan has emerged as a key facilitator between Iran and the United States, serving as an intermediary for messages between the two sides as the war continues.

On Sunday, DPM Dar said a quadrilateral meeting of the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Egypt had called for an immediate and permanent end to the ongoing war in the Middle East.

In a televised address after the meeting in Islamabad, Dar said Pakistan had hosted the talks to discuss a range of issues, including efforts to ease rising regional tensions caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump told aides he is willing to end the military campaign against Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed and leave a complex operation to reopen it for a later date, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing administration officials.

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The more than month-long war between the United States, Israel and Iran, which began on February 28 and has affected the wider Middle East. The conflict has also had serious economic consequences, with Iran’s effective blockade of oil and gas shipments through the Strait of Hormuz since the attacks began, causing economic pain across the world.