Islamabad, Sep 1 (PTI): Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday met Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi and said that the “sincere implementation” of the Islamabad MoU was the only way forward to resolve the ongoing conflict in West Asia.
The two leaders met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, according to Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO).
“The DPM underscored that dialogue and diplomacy remain essential to promoting peace and stability in the region, and that sincere implementation by both parties to the conflict of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)of June 2026 remains the only way forward,” the FO said in a statement on X.In June, the US and Iran signed a MoU, aimed at bringing peace in West Asia. Pakistan also signed the document as a “guarantor”.
The negotiations collapsed in early July with renewed military strikes amid mutual accusations of agreement violations and deadlocked demands over the Strait of Hormuz – the Gulf chokepoint through which about a fifth of the world’s energy supplies passed in peacetime.
The FO said that the two ministers exchanged views on bilateral relations and regional developments and reaffirmed the importance of continued engagement.
Dar, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister, is visiting Kyrgyzstan with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who is officially attending the SCO summit meeting in Bishkek.
Earlier, PM Sharif also met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday on the sidelines of the summit and underscored the need to build on the understandings reached under the Islamabad MoU.
Pezeshkian appreciated Pakistan’s “consistent diplomatic efforts for regional peace and security”, a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office said.
Dar also held a meeting with China’s FM Wang Yi on the sidelines of the summit on Tuesday, the FO said.
Both leaders reaffirmed the All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership between Pakistan and China.
They also discussed matters of mutual interest, including the upcoming United Nations General Assembly session this month in New York and the ongoing process for the election of the next UN secretary-general, it said.
Pakistan’s foreign minister also met Belarusian counterpart Maxim Ryzhenkov and discussed bilateral relations and regional developments and exchanged views on matters of mutual interest, the statement said.
