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ISLAMABAD: During a meeting focused on energy security, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed the authorities to accelerate Pakistan&#39;s transition to electric vehicles and establish strategic reserves of crude oil. He emphasized that these initiatives are now crucial components of the country&#39;s long-term planning. &quot;Timely measures and energy conservation have helped prevent an energy crisis despite the current regional situation,&quot; the PM said during the briefing, according to a press statement issued by the Prime Minister&#39;s Office. The PM called for a gradual shift to electric vehicles (EVs), directing that &quot;in the future, only electric buses and motorcycles should be procured for official use.&quot; He also ordered that &quot;steps be accelerated for the establishment of EV charging stations.&quot; The prime minister instructed officials to advance plans to maintain strategic crude oil reserves, saying the initiative should continue in view of future energy needs. &quot;Local production of high-quality storage batteries should be encouraged,&quot; he added. According to the press statement, officials briefing the meeting said that the National Coordination and Management Council, formed in view of the regional situation, was monitoring developments in the energy sector daily. They added that Pakistan currently has &quot;adequate petroleum reserves&quot; and that the country&rsquo;s food security situation &quot;remains stable.&quot;

Pakistan Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif chairing a meeting regarding energy security. Islamabad, 23 April 2026. (Photo: X/@PakPMO)

Economy

Security

Emphasizes that these initiatives are now crucial components of the country's long-term planning.

Pakistan PM directs shift to electric vehicles, strategic oil reserves amid regional tensions

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan&rsquo;s prime minister and ambassador of China in Islamabad discussed regional situation in the Middle East and Islamabad&rsquo;s peace efforts. Jiang Zaidong, ambassador of the People&rsquo;s Republic of China, paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday, said a press release issued by the Prime Minister&rsquo;s Office. The prime minister was assisted by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar, SAPM Syed Tariq Fatemi and Foreign Secretary Ambassador Amna Baloch. The prime minister conveyed his warm regards and greetings for President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang. While expressing his satisfaction at the positive trajectory of Pakistan-China bilateral relations, the prime minister reaffirmed that Pakistan took great pride in its All-Weather Cooperative Strategic Partnership with China. He also spoke of his resolve to continue working closely with the Chinese leadership, to ensure that the relationship grows from strength to strength. The regional situation in the Middle East and Pakistan&rsquo;s peace efforts also came under discussion during the meeting. The Chinese ambassador thanked the prime minister for receiving him and expressed China&rsquo;s appreciation of Pakistan&rsquo;s diplomatic efforts for lasting peace in the region. He reaffirmed China&rsquo;s commitment to strengthening its iron-clad ties with Pakistan and to take them to new heights, as envisioned by President Xi Jinping.

Foreign Affairs

The Chinese ambassador thanked the prime minister for receiving him and expressed China’s appreciation of Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts for lasting peace in the region.

Pakistan premier, Chinese envoy discuss Mideast peace efforts 

DOHA: A US naval blockade of Iranian ports is likely to squeeze Iran&#39;s oil output in the coming weeks but claims it will throw the Islamic republic into economic free fall remain premature, analysts say. After weeks of bombing and counter-strikes, focus has shifted to the standoff in the Strait of Hormuz, which ordinarily carries around a fifth of the world&#39;s oil and liquefied natural gas. In response to Iran&#39;s blockade of the strait since the start of the war, the US imposed a counter-blockade of the Islamic republic&#39;s ports, a push to force its leaders into a compromise in peace talks. That bid, however, looks set to fail, at least in the short term. &quot;If the blockade lasts for more than two or three months, it can cause more damage&quot; to Iran, economic analyst and professor at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran Saeed Laylaz told AFP. &quot;If Iran suffers any damage, the damage to the countries in the southern Persian Gulf will definitely be greater,&quot; he added. There&#39;s a limit on how long Iran can bide its time, however. Arne Lohmann Rasmussen, chief analyst at Global Risk Management said Iran &quot;was expected to run out of storage capacity within approximately one month, but it may already be forced to shut in part of its oil production within a couple of weeks&quot;.&nbsp;&#39;Collapsing financially&#39;?&nbsp;Trump said Tuesday that Iran was &quot;collapsing financially&quot; under the blockade imposed by the US Navy on April 12, claiming that the country was &quot;starving for cash&quot;. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the blockade meant storage at Iran&#39;s Kharg Island, the main export terminal through which most of the country&#39;s crude is shipped, &quot;will be full and the fragile Iranian oil wells will be shut in&quot;. Jamie Ingram, managing editor of Middle East Economic Survey (MEES), told AFP it was likely the timeline for Iran to hit its oil storage limits would be measured in &quot;weeks rather than days&quot;. He added it was likely that &quot;Iran will slightly reduce production before getting to the stage where storage constraints start to bite&quot;. According to analysis by oil expert Homayoun Falakshahi shared by energy intelligence firm Kpler, Iran&#39;s crude production has already slowed since the start of the war. Output fell by around 200,000 barrels per day in March to 3.68 million bpd and is expected to drop a further 420,000 bpd in April to about 3.43 million bpd, reflecting &quot;the broader impact of export disruptions and refining constraints linked to the ongoing conflict,&quot; Falakshahi said. But Laylaz in Tehran said beyond the psychological effect of the blockade, the &quot;real material effect has been small so far&quot;. Ingram said Kharg Island &quot;shouldn&#39;t be a particular bottleneck,&quot; for Iran. &quot;This is the final storage facility used before oil is exported and Iran can divert crude oil to other facilities rather than straight to Kharg,&quot; he said.&nbsp;&#39;Mutually assured disruption&#39;&nbsp;The MEES expert also said Iran&#39;s dependency on oil exports via Hormuz had &quot;deepened due to the damage caused by US and Israeli strikes to other sections of the Iranian economy&quot;. &quot;But Iran has also proven its ability to withstand huge oil-revenue declines during previous rounds of sanctions. I would not underestimate the regime&#39;s resilience in this regard,&quot; he added. As the initial two-week truce between Iran and the US was set to expire Trump had said Tuesday, he would maintain the ceasefire to allow more time for peace talks. Iran said it welcomed the efforts by mediator Pakistan but made no other comment on Trump&#39;s announcement, while vowing not to reopen Hormuz so long as the US blockade remains in place. &quot;It will take a long time before such economic pain forces Iran to compromise,&quot; Ingram said, explaining it is &quot;more likely economic disruption... pushes China into exerting more pressure on Iran to negotiate&quot;. Ali Vaez, Iran project director at the International Crisis Group, said &quot;Iran&#39;s economy was battered before the war, is contending with added strains caused during it, and now faces the combination of sanctions, seizures and potential strikes&quot;. &quot;Iran&#39;s leadership has previously shown a high threshold for pain even if the pressure on ordinary Iranians increases. It also likely calculates that its own efforts to subdue traffic through Hormuz act as a sort of mutually assured disruption,&quot; he added.

Middle East

A US naval blockade of Iranian ports is likely to squeeze Iran's oil output in the coming weeks but claims it will throw the Islamic republic into economic free fall remain premature, analysts say.

Iran economy looks set to withstand US naval blockade

PARIS: Sales of new cars jumped last month in the European Union as consumers turned to electric vehicles amid soaring petrol prices driven by the war in the Middle East, data showed Thursday. Overall sales rose 12.5% in March from the same month last year to 1.16 million vehicles, according to registration data from the European Automobile Manufacturers&#39; Association (ACEA). That jump helped the market achieve a 4% rise in the first quarter, following declines in January and February. Sales of fully electric vehicles soared by 49%, with plug-in hybrids also jumping 20%. Over the first quarter, hybrids were the top choice of European consumers, accounting for 37% of overall sales. Plug-in hybrids accounted for another 10% of market share. The market share of simple petrol motor vehicles slumped to 23% in the quarter, down from 28% a year earlier. Fully electric vehicles accounted for just over 19% of overall sales. The ACEA noted that electric vehicle sales performance varied widely by country, with Italy, France and Germany posting strong gains. Petrol prices spiked throughout Europe after the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, resulting in a near block on oil exports from the Gulf and leading Iran to retaliate by attacking energy facilities throughout the region. Meanwhile, sales in Belgium and the Netherlands fell. The Volkswagen Group maintained its top spot in the EU market in the first quarter, with its market share dipping to 26.4% despite sales edging higher. That was primarily due to Stellantis, whose Fiat, Citroen and Opel brands saw sales surge, boosting the group&#39;s market share. Another major European car manufacturer, Renault, saw sales slide in the first quarter due to transportation problems affecting its low-cost Dacia brand. Sales of Teslas jumped nearly 60% from the first quarter of last year, when Elon Musk&#39;s involvement in the Trump administration turned off European consumers.

Electric car charging (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Business

Sales of fully electric vehicles soar by 49%, with plug-in hybrids also jumping 20%.

Electric vehicles supercharge EU car sales

PARIS: An envoy to US President Donald Trump has asked world football&#39;s governing body FIFA to replace Iran with Italy at the World Cup, according to the Financial Times. US special envoy Paolo Zampolli told the FT it would be a &quot;dream&quot; to see four-time World Cup winners Italy at the finals in the United States, Mexico and Canada, despite having lost in a qualification playoff last month. The suggestion was an effort to repair ties between Trump and Giorgia Meloni after the Italian prime minister fell out with the president after criticizing his attack on Pope Leo XIV over the Iran war, the newspaper reported. &quot;I confirm I have suggested to Trump and (FIFA President Gianni) Infantino that Italy replace Iran at the World Cup. I&#39;m an Italian native and it would be a dream to see the Azzurri at a US-hosted tournament. With four titles, they have the pedigree to justify inclusion,&quot; Zampolli told the FT. Italy missed out on the World Cup for the third successive time after losing a penalty shootout to Bosnia and Herzegovina in their qualifying playoff final. Iran&#39;s participation in the World Cup has been thrown into doubt by the war with the US and Israel that broke out on Feb. 28. The Iranian football federation (FFIRI) had said in April it was &quot;negotiating&quot; with FIFA to relocate the country&#39;s World Cup matches from the United States to Mexico. But Infantino told AFP last month, while attending Iran&#39;s friendly against Costa Rica in Turkey, that Iran will be at the World Cup and that they will play &quot;where they are supposed to be, according to the draw.&quot; Zampolli is an Italian-American socialite, businessman and former modeling agent who claims to have introduced Trump to his current wife, Melania Trump.

DR Congo's defender #04 Axel Tuanzebe (R) celebrates after scoring a goal in extra time during the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers final playoff football match between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Jamaica at the Akron Stadium in Zapopan, Jalisc

Football

Paolo Zampolli suggests to Donald Trump and FIFA that Italy replace Iran at the World Cup, despite officials insisting Iran will still participate.

Trump envoy wants Italy to replace Iran at World Cup: Report 

HONG KONG, China: Equities fell and oil prices rose Thursday amid continuing US-Iran tensions. Investors have spent most of the week upbeat that a breakthrough to end the seven-week conflict will be made soon, while healthy earnings and a resumption of the AI trade has also provided support. Crude prices jumped as much as four percent in early Asian business after global security monitors and Iran&#39;s Revolutionary Guards said Iranian forces had seized two ships and fired on a third in the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran has said vessels must seek permission to leave or enter the Gulf through the waterway, which in peacetime accounts for around a fifth of the world&#39;s oil and gas exports along with other vital commodities. However, the White House said Donald Trump did not consider the move to be a ceasefire violation because the vessels are not American or Israeli. Meanwhile, Iran&#39;s parliament speaker said the Islamic republic would not reopen the Strait as long as the US naval blockade remained, calling it a &quot;blatant violation&quot; of the two countries&#39; ceasefire. &quot;A complete ceasefire only has meaning if it is not violated through a naval blockade... Reopening the Strait of Hormuz is not possible amid a blatant violation of the ceasefire,&quot; speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on X. Still, Trump&#39;s Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said he &quot;has not set a firm deadline to receive an Iranian proposal&quot; for talks. &quot;Ultimately, the timeline will be dictated by the commander in chief,&quot; she told journalists. Oil prices Oil prices remained elevated Thursday, with Brent holding above $100 following a surge to more than $106 in the morning. Equities fell, though, with Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Taipei, Mumbai, Bangkok and Wellington all down. But Seoul rose to a new record thanks to a fresh rally in the tech sector that has been the backbone of a surge in the Kospi index this year.&nbsp;London and Frankfurt fell but Paris edged up.&nbsp; &quot;Whether it&#39;s conflict fatigue or confidence that the conflict between the US and Iran will be resolved soon, there is limited evidence that the rise in the oil price dampened bond and equity markets,&quot; said National Australia Bank&#39;s Skye Masters. However, she added that the Washington Post had reported a senior Defense Department warned it could take six months to fully clear the Strait of Hormuz of mines and that such an operation would probably not unlikely start before the end of the war. Financial markets &quot;It is questionable whether financial markets are correctly pricing the reality that supply constraints will remain an issue for some time,&quot; she wrote. Raphael Olszyna-Marzys, of Bank J Safra Sarasin, added: &quot;Financial markets are pricing a high likelihood that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz will soon normalize. &quot;Our game-theory model suggests that a narrow agreement to reopen the strait is in both parties&#39; best interests. This outcome remains our base case. But it also reveals that a misreading of the other party&#39;s intentions could lead to a further ratcheting-up of tensions before we get there.&quot; Investors took some heart from strong earnings reports, with South Korean chip titan SK hynix posting a nearly 400% jump in net profit that hit a record for January-March thanks to the artificial intelligence boom. That came after Tesla announced forecast-topping first-quarter profits and Texas Instruments offered a healthy outlook. Bloomberg said almost 80% of the S&amp;P 500 firms that have reported first-quarter earnings had beaten analyst estimates so far. Key figures at 0810 GMT West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.8% at $93.74 a barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 1.0% at $102.92 a barrelTokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.8% at 59,140.23 (close)Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.0% at 25,915.20Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.3% at 4,093.25 (close)London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.3% at 10,442.71Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1700 from $1.1709 on WednesdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3488 from $1.3506Dollar/yen: DOWN at 159.63 yen from 159.49 yenEuro/pound: UP at 86.76 pence from 86.70 pence

Crude prices jumped as much as four percent in early Asian business after global security monitors and Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Iranian forces had seized two ships and fired on a third in the Strait of Hormuz.

Stocks sink and oil rises amid continuing US-Iran tensions

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Interior Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi met with US Charg&eacute; d&#39;Affaires Natalie Baker on Thursday, when the two sides discussed in detail the latest developments in the region. According to APP, the meeting covered ongoing diplomatic efforts regarding the second round of the Islamabad Dialogue. Both sides stressed the need to keep diplomatic channels open to achieve a lasting resolution to the ongoing conflict. During the meeting, Minister Naqvi appreciated US President Donald Trump&rsquo;s initiative to extend the ceasefire. He described the move as a welcome and significant step toward reducing tensions.<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; line-height: 2;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2047184997665411146&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F&sessionId=7020877489407314a40ef600a5f65bde2edc12ad&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 600px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div> The interior minister expressed hope that positive progress would come from Iran&rsquo;s side. Minister Naqvi said Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif were making efforts at all levels to help resolve the issue. He expressed optimism that all parties would give diplomatic and peaceful solutions a chance. US Charge d&#39;Affaires Natalie Baker praised Pakistan&rsquo;s constructive role in promoting peace. Cd&#39;A Baker also appreciated Pakistan&rsquo;s contribution to efforts to resolve the regional conflict.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and US Charge d'Affairs Natalie Baker discussed regional developments, ceasefire extension and the Islamabad Dialogue, while both sides stressed diplomacy and peace efforts to resolve the conflict.

Pakistan Interior Minister, US Charge d'Affaires discuss peace efforts

UNITED NATIONS: Contenders for the next UN secretary-general made their case this week for a United Nations more invested in peace, but avoided taking positions that could antagonize the member states who will choose the world body&#39;s next chief. Chile&#39;s Michelle Bachelet, Argentina&#39;s Rafael Grossi, Costa Rica&#39;s Rebeca Grynspan, and Senegal&#39;s Macky Sall are all hoping to succeed Antonio Guterres on January 1, 2027, when his second five-year term ends. Each candidate spent three hours this week answering wide-ranging questions from the 193 member states and representatives of civil society. However, &quot;a lot of diplomats are a bit cynical about the hearings,&quot; Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group told AFP. &quot;There is a widespread suspicion that the US and other vetoes in the Security Council will select a winner in private and minimize the Assembly&#39;s role in the process.&quot; The question-and-answer sessions, dubbed &quot;interactive dialogues,&quot; were introduced in 2016. The General Assembly, where every member state has a seat, can only elect the secretary-general upon the recommendation of the Security Council, where the five permanent members, the United States, China, Russia, Britain and France hold veto power. Much of what the contenders said was &quot;formulaic,&quot; but they did send some &quot;important messages,&quot; according to Gowan. He said Grossi emphasized &quot;how fragile the UN is today&quot; and appeared more &quot;radical&quot; than Guterres on reform. All the candidates stressed the urgent need to restore confidence in a United Nations teetering on the brink of financial collapse. Its relevance has also been called into question in a world facing a level of armed conflict not seen since World War II. Chile&#39;s Bachelet, a former UN human rights chief, said the secretary-general should be &quot;physically present in the field&quot; wherever problems need solving, a position also taken by Grossi. Sall, a former president of Senegal, suggested a &quot;reinvented role&quot; so that the UN might &quot;regain its place at the global table.&quot; Some have criticized Guterres for failing to exert influence over conflicts in Ukraine or the Middle East. Grynspan said the next UN chief &quot;needs to take a risk&quot; and lamented: &quot;We have become a risk-conservative organization.&quot; &quot;The UN only fails when we don&#39;t try, we have to try,&quot; added Grynspan, who, as head of UN Trade and Development, negotiated a deal that facilitated the export of Ukrainian grain following the 2022 Russian invasion. Waiting in the wings&nbsp;The candidates acknowledged the link between the UN&#39;s three pillars of peace, human rights and development, while emphasizing the organization&#39;s primary role in upholding the first tenet. US President Donald Trump has called for the UN to return to its &quot;original mission&quot; of peace. Very few of the questions focused on specific conflicts, and the candidates largely refrained from answering in concrete terms, preferring instead to invoke a commitment to the UN Charter. When asked about Gaza, however, Grynspan urged &quot;unrestricted&quot; entry of humanitarian aid and voiced support for a long-term solution for two states to live side by side in &quot;peace and security.&quot; Sall highlighted the &quot;human tragedy&quot; of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Candidates&#39; past stances and actions will undoubtedly influence the final selection. Republican lawmakers have already called on Washington to block Bachelet due to her defense of abortion rights. Grossi, the current head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, is involved in sensitive matters, including the response to Iran&#39;s nuclear program. The five Security Council permanent members remain tight-lipped about their intentions, and other contenders for UN chief might still emerge. &quot;I think that there are still quite a few candidates circling and waiting to see how things play out&quot; before declaring their candidacy, Gowan said.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi talks to the press on a road outside Zaporizhzhia city, after his visit to the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine on September 1, 2022, amid the Russian invasion 

Americas

Candidates for the next UN secretary-general urge a stronger, peace-focused UN while avoiding controversy, as major powers are expected to heavily influence the final decision.

UN leadership hopefuls stress need for peace and restoring confidence

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan&rsquo;s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir,&nbsp;has emerged as an unusually prominent and hands-on mediator in efforts to revive US-Iran diplomacy, with the Financial Times highlighting his distinctive approach and rare access to both sides. According to the Financial Times, Field Marshal&nbsp;Munir has combined &ldquo;links to Iran&rsquo;s security establishment with personal ties&rdquo; to Donald Trump, positioning himself as a bridge between two deeply mistrustful adversaries.&nbsp; Trump himself underscored that relationship, describing the Pakistani general as &ldquo;fantastic.&rdquo; A key strength of Field Marshal&nbsp;Munir&rsquo;s role, the report notes, lies in his ability to engage across Iran&rsquo;s complex power structure.&nbsp; Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group said Munir has &ldquo;good connections&rdquo; with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and &ldquo;understands their language,&rdquo; an advantage few mediators possess. Rather than relying on narrow diplomatic channels, Field Marshal&nbsp;Munir has adopted what experts describe as a &ldquo;whole-of-the-system approach to mediation.&rdquo; By spending extended time in Tehran and engaging both civilian and military leadership, he has sought to ensure that &ldquo;there&rsquo;s no power center [in Iran] that feels left out,&rdquo; Vaez said. The Financial Times also portrays Field Marshal&nbsp;Munir as a highly active and visible negotiator.&nbsp; He has remained in direct contact with the White House while simultaneously conducting in-person diplomacy in Iran, reflecting a level of personal involvement that contrasts with more traditional, team-driven negotiations. His efforts have already yielded limited but notable results.&nbsp; The report says Trump agreed to extend a ceasefire &ldquo;citing a request from Munir&rdquo; and Pakistan&rsquo;s leadership, a sign of the general&rsquo;s influence in Washington. Field Marshal&nbsp;Munir&rsquo;s emergence has also been supported by improving ties between Washington and Islamabad, allowing Pakistan to step into a role typically played by Gulf states or European powers. Despite limited prior experience in US-Iran mediation, the Financial Times notes that Pakistan has &ldquo;surfaced as a surprise lead mediator.&rdquo; Even observers cautious about the broader prospects of talks acknowledge the seriousness of the effort.&nbsp; As Vali Nasr told the newspaper, Pakistani interlocutors are &ldquo;serious,&rdquo; reflecting a sustained commitment to keeping negotiations alive. The report suggests that Field Marshal&nbsp;Munir&rsquo;s combination of military credibility, political access and an unorthodox, system-wide engagement strategy has made him a distinctive and potentially consequential player in one of the world&rsquo;s most difficult diplomatic challenges.

According to the Financial Times, Field Marshal Munir has combined 'links to Iran’s security establishment with personal ties' to President Donald Trump, positioning himself as a bridge between two deeply mistrustful adversaries. 

Pakistani military chief trying to save US-Iran talks: FT

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday called for renewed momentum behind a Libyan-led peace process, arguing before the United Nations Security Council that financial transparency and unified spending could be decisive in stabilizing the country. Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Pakistan&#39;s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, addressed the Council&#39;s quarterly session on the UN Support Mission in Libya, framing the crisis around three interlinked tracks -- political, security, and economic -- and placing emphasis on the economic dimension as &quot;central to sustainable peace.&quot; &quot;Pakistan considers Libya a brotherly country,&quot; the envoy said, welcoming what he described as a &quot;milestone&quot; agreement among Libyan leaders on a unified spending framework. According to the press release, the ambassador suggested it could reduce fragmentation and restore confidence in state institutions if implemented effectively. Pakistan also sought to reframe UN sanctions, stressing that asset freezes should not be seen as punitive but as &quot;safeguards for Libyan resources.&quot; The envoy pointed to provisions under a recent Security Council resolution aimed at improving transparency and management of frozen assets, including cooperation with Libya&rsquo;s sovereign wealth structures. On security, Islamabad welcomed a relative calm in and around Tripoli and backed continued efforts to unify all Libyan stakeholders. It also supported ongoing UN mediation between eastern and western factions. Pakistan cited unresolved disputes between Libya&rsquo;s rival legislative bodies over electoral laws and institutional control, endorsing the UN&rsquo;s structured dialogue approach to bridge these gaps. Ahmad concluded by committing to continued cooperation with Security Council partners in support of a &quot;stable, secure and united Libya.&quot;

Statement by Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN, at the UN Security Council Briefing on UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) on 22 April, 2026 (Photo: X/@PakistanUN_NY)

Pakistan's representative to the UN says the unified spending agreement could reduce fragmentation and restore confidence in state institutions if implemented effectively.