Pakistan Courts Bangladesh, Iran at UNGA, Pushes Mediation — SkimNews
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- Shehbaz Sharif met Bangladesh PM Tarique Rahman on UNGA sidelines on Sept 25, 2026, calling the exchange "warm and most cordial" and pledging deeper cooperation in trade, investment, connectivity, education, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges.
- Sharif congratulated Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rehman on assuming the presidency of the 81st UN General Assembly session.
- Sharif met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian a day earlier on Sept 24, 2026, reaffirming "deep and longstanding bonds" and exchanging views on the "evolving regional situation."
- Sharif told Pezeshkian he expressed "deep concern over the prolonged conflict" and stressed the need for "restraint, de-escalation and sustained diplomacy," while referencing the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding.
- Pakistan signed a June interim peace agreement between Tehran and Washington as a "guarantor," but the mediation process was disrupted after military escalation by both sides.
- Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi visited Tehran days before the UNGA meeting to revive Islamabad's diplomatic efforts to ease Iran-US tensions.
- The Bangladesh outreach comes as Dhaka seeks stronger ties with Pakistan and China while its relations with neighboring India remain strained.
Why it matters: Sharif is using the UNGA platform to simultaneously court Bangladesh and reassert Pakistan's mediator credibility in the Iran-US standoff — a role anchored by its June interim-agreement guarantor status that has since frayed after renewed military escalation. If Islamabad revives those talks, it locks in diplomatic relevance; if not, its guarantor standing erodes. The Bangladesh track quietly opens a South Asian counterweight to New Delhi while Dhaka-India ties stay frozen.
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