DPM Dar departs for Beijing on a one-day visit

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has left for Beijing for a one-day visit at the invitation of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Dar and Yi will review bilateral ties and discuss regional and global issues of common interest during their meeting, it added.

This marks the foreign minister’s second visit to Beijing this year. His trip follows closely on the heels of a four-nation meeting in Islamabad with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Egypt, which focused on the US-Israeli war against Iran.

The meeting concluded with preliminary discussions that reportedly focused on proposals to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to shipping. Foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt landed in Islamabad for the talks. The talks came as Iran warned the US against launching a ground attack and global oil prices rose amid continued fighting between Iran, the US and Israel.

Along with the call for an urgent cessation of hostilities, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in a statement reaffirmed X Pakistan’s “strong commitment and willingness to play a positive role in bringing both Iran and the US to the negotiating table”, appreciating Turkiye and Egypt’s “valuable contributions” to the matter.

Dar revealed on Sunday that China extended full support to Islamabad’s initiative after his telephone conversation with the Chinese foreign minister. “Initiating peace talks is not an easy task, but it is the only viable path to avoid further losses and casualties,” Yi said, according to an official Chinese readout.

Earlier, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement about the meeting, saying, “Pakistan and China enjoy an all-weather strategic cooperative partnership characterized by close coordination and regular consultations on regional and international issues.”