Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, will on Wednesday begin a four-day diplomatic tour of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey, as Islamabad intensifies efforts ahead of a possible second round of US-Iran peace talks.
In a statement, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said Sharif would undertake official visits to the three countries from April 15 to April 18, 2026. It noted that engagements in Saudi Arabia and Qatar would focus on bilateral relations, while the visit to Turkey would include participation in the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.
During the forum, Sharif is expected to hold bilateral meetings with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other world leaders on the sidelines.
The diplomatic push comes days after Washington and Tehran held rare face-to-face talks in Islamabad—their first in decades—as part of efforts to end a more than six-week conflict triggered by joint military action involving the United States and Israel against Iran.
The war has heightened tensions across the Middle East, with Iran reportedly targeting US allies in the Gulf, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, while also disrupting regional energy exports.
Although the Islamabad talks ended without a breakthrough, US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that negotiations could resume later this week in the Pakistani capital. A fragile ceasefire remains in place until next week, despite reports of a US naval blockade of Iran.
Sharif will be accompanied on the trip by Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who played a mediating role during the recent US-Iran discussions, along with other senior officials.
Pakistan’s longstanding ties with Saudi Arabia were further reinforced on Wednesday, as Islamabad announced that Riyadh would provide $3 billion to support the country’s foreign reserves. The finance ministry also disclosed that an existing $5 billion Saudi deposit would be extended for an unspecified period.
The development comes shortly after Pakistan confirmed it had repaid billions of dollars in loans to the United Arab Emirates, a regional ally-turned-rival of Saudi Arabia.
Source AFP
