Ayesha Mir

As tensions between the United States, Israel, and Iran continue, Pakistan is emerging as a potential diplomatic bridge. What makes Islamabad uniquely positioned to play this role, and could it actually influence the outcome?

Shorts

What makes Islamabad uniquely positioned to play this role, and could it actually influence the outcome?

Why world turned to Pakistan for ending hostilities in Middle East

Web Desk/AFP

WASHINGTON:&nbsp;Israel and Lebanon released a joint statement saying that they held &ldquo;productive discussions&rdquo; and agreed to launch direct negotiations as the two sides met in Washington, the United States said on Tuesday. &quot;The participants held productive discussions on steps toward launching direct negotiations between Israel and Lebanon,&quot; State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement. &quot;All sides agreed to launch direct negotiations at a mutually agreed time and venue,&quot; he said. The announcement came after Israeli and Lebanese envoys held more than two hours of talks mediated by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. &quot;The United States congratulated the two countries on this historic milestone and expressed its support for further talks, and for the government of Lebanon&#39;s plans to restore the monopoly of force and to end Iran&#39;s overbearing influence,&quot; Pigott said. And it &quot;affirmed that any agreement to cease hostilities must be reached between the two governments, brokered by the United States, and not through any separate track,&quot; he added. Lebanon was pulled into the region-wide Iran war on March 2 after pro-Tehran Hezbollah attacked Israel. Since then, Israeli strikes have killed more than 2,000 people and displaced more than one million, despite international calls for a ceasefire, and Israeli ground forces have invaded southern Lebanon.

Middle East

Israel and Lebanon agree to launch direct negotiations after “productive” talks in Washington mediated by Marco Rubio, marking a potential step toward de-escalation.

Israel, Lebanon agree to direct negotiations after 'productive' talks: US

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan&#39;s Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb said that Saudi Arabia has committed an additional $3 billion in deposits to Pakistan, with disbursement expected within a week, providing timely support for the country&rsquo;s external financing needs. Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/pakistan-finance-minister-outlines-macroeconomic-outlook-reform-progress-at-uspakistan-business-council-luncheon" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">World Bank-IMF Spring Meetings 2026</a>, the finance minister said the Kingdom has also agreed to extend its existing $5 billion deposit for a longer period, moving away from the earlier annual rollover arrangement. <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" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 672px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" 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=2044247340308148616&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Fdashboard%2F&sessionId=6cce7b9fd498f49855a1f8e1b89c9a140954b443&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div>Aurangzeb said the fresh inflows would help strengthen Pakistan&rsquo;s foreign exchange reserves and support its external account, as the government aims to build reserves to around $18 billion, equivalent to about 3.3 months of import cover, by the end of the current fiscal year. He said Pakistan remains committed to meeting all external obligations on time, noting that the recent repayment of a $1.4 billion Eurobond was completed smoothly. The minister said Pakistan&rsquo;s external financing plan is well-defined and being implemented in a disciplined manner under the IMF-supported program. He added that during his visit, he held detailed talks with Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Jadaan and senior Pakistani officials to finalize the support package. Aurangzeb expressed gratitude to the Saudi leadership, particularly Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, for continued financial backing and close cooperation. He said Pakistan is receiving strong recognition from international financial institutions, including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, as well as global investors, for its economic reforms and diplomatic engagement. The minister added that Pakistan is advancing efforts to diversify funding sources through initiatives such as the Global Medium-Term Note program and a planned Panda Bond issuance. Aurangzeb reaffirmed the government&rsquo;s commitment to macroeconomic stability, continuity of reforms, and sustained engagement with bilateral and multilateral partners.

Pakistan's Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, alongside State Bank Governor Jameel Ahmad, met Saudi Finance Minister H.E. Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Jadaan in Washington on the sidelines of the World Bank-IMF Spring Meetings 2026.

Economy

The finance minister said the Kingdom has also agreed to extend its existing $5 billion deposit for a longer period, moving away from the earlier annual rollover arrangement.

Saudi Arabia commits $3B in additional deposits for Pakistan: FM Aurangzeb

GAZA CITY: Gaza&#39;s civil defense agency said on Tuesday that a toddler was among 10 people killed in separate Israeli strikes in the northern part of the Palestinian territory. Violence continues despite a ceasefire in the Gaza war that came into effect on October 10, with both Israel and Hamas regularly accusing each other of violations. Mahmoud Bassal, spokesman for the civil defense agency, said &quot;four people were killed, including a child and several others were injured... in a strike targeting a police vehicle&quot; in Gaza City. He identified the child as three-year-old Yahya al-Mallahi. Gaza City&#39;s Al-Shifa hospital confirmed receiving the bodies of the dead. Contacted by AFP, the Israeli army said it was looking into the details. In a statement, Gaza&#39;s interior ministry said Israeli warplanes had &quot;targeted a police vehicle&quot; in the city centre, &quot;causing several deaths and injuries.&quot; Bassal also said another person had been killed by Israeli fire in the northern Beit Lahia area earlier on Tuesday. The military said in a statement that its troops had identified an &quot;armed terrorist&quot; in the area of the so-called Yellow Line &mdash; behind which its forces have withdrawn &mdash; who approached their position. The army said he was killed in a strike, but it was unclear whether it referred to the same incident in Beit Lahia. AFP footage showed Palestinians gathering around the body of a man who was then placed on a stretcher and carried away to be buried through streets lined with rubble. Later on Tuesday evening, the civil defense agency reported that multiple people were killed in another strike near an intersection in the Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City. The Al-Shifa hospital confirmed receiving five bodies from &quot;an Israeli drone bombing with two missiles a group of citizens in front of warehouses for electricity generators&quot; in Al-Shati. The military did not offer an immediate response regarding the latest strike. The October ceasefire followed more than two years of war on Gaza. At least 757 have been killed in Gaza since the truce came into effect, according to the territory&#39;s health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations. The Israeli army says five of its soldiers have been killed in Gaza over the same period. Media restrictions and limited access in Gaza have prevented AFP from independently verifying casualty figures or freely covering the fighting.

Violence continues despite a ceasefire in the Gaza war that came into effect on October 10, with both sides accusing each other of violations; at least 757 have been killed in Gaza since the truce came into effect.

Gaza civil defense says toddler among 10 killed in Israeli strikes

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan&rsquo;s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Tuesday briefed participants at a luncheon of the US-Pakistan Business Council on the country&#39;s macroeconomic outlook and reform progress. The finance minister departed for the United States to participate in the World Bank Group&ndash;IMF Spring Meetings 2026, to be held in Washington, from April 13 to 18, 2026. The minister met the United States Trade Representative on the sidelines of the World Bank-IMF Spring Meetings 2026 to discuss trade and investment cooperation. In a post on the Finance Ministry&rsquo;s X account, Finance Minister Aurangzeb interacted with representatives of US companies operating in Pakistan on the sidelines of the World Bank&ndash;IMF Spring Meetings 2026. Highlighting the approval of a staff-level agreement on the third review under Pakistan&rsquo;s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the second review under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), the finance minister outlined the economic impact of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, particularly in terms of energy procurement, pricing, and logistics. According to the statement, the finance minister elaborated on the &ldquo;government&rsquo;s policy response, including measures focused on supply chain stabilization, demand management, and the provision of fiscally-neutral targeted subsidies.&rdquo; He also highlighted emerging positive developments, including a &ldquo;significant surge in transshipment volumes through Karachi Port and record inflows under the Roshan Digital Account initiative.&rdquo; Underscoring the ongoing efforts to broaden the tax base, the finance minister talked about the &ldquo;particular focus&rdquo; the government has &ldquo;on bringing segments of the informal professional economy into the tax net through targeted Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) audits and sector-specific engagement.&rdquo; An interactive question-and-answer segment was held at the end of the discussion, reflecting strong interest from participants in Pakistan&rsquo;s economic trajectory and reform agenda.

Finance minister interacts with representatives of US companies operating in Pakistan on the sidelines of the World Bank–IMF Spring Meetings 2026.



Pakistan's finance chief outlines macroeconomic outlook, reform progress at US-Pakistan Business Council 

This live blog follows updates for Day 47 of the US-Israeli war on Iran. For a recap of Day 46, go <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/usisrael-war-on-iran-day-46" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">here</a>.<hr style="line-height: 2;"><ul style="list-style-type: square;"><li id="isPasted" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 2;">US-Israel Iran war continues amid ceasefire, ongoing diplomatic efforts</li><li id="isPasted" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 2;">Trump says the second round of peace talks in Pakistan could happen&nbsp;</li><li id="isPasted" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 2;">Israel, &nbsp;Lebanon move toward direct talks seeking ceasefire, stability</li><li id="isPasted" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 2;">Strait of Hormuz tensions disrupt oil flow despite partial crossings and talks</li><li id="isPasted" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 2;">Global markets rise cautiously on hopes of conflict de-escalation and agreement</li></ul><hr style="line-height: 2;"> Iran must commit to &#39;no nuclear weapon&#39;Published: April 15, 2026 | 02:43 GMT | By Web Desk US Vice President JD Vance said Trump told Iran that the United States would &quot;make Iran thrive&quot; if it committed to &quot;not having a nuclear weapon&quot;. At the heart of any renewed US-Iran diplomacy is the dispute over Tehran&#39;s nuclear programme, with Trump launching the war under the pretext that the Islamic Republic was developing an atomic bomb &mdash; which it denies. &quot;That&#39;s the kind of Trumpian grand bargain that the president has put on the table. Man, we&#39;re going to keep on negotiating and try to make it happen,&quot; Vance told an event in the US state of Georgia hosted by the conservative group Turning Point USA. <hr> Vance says talks made a &lsquo;ton of progress&rsquo; in Pakistan&nbsp;Published: April 15, 2026 | 01:46 GMT | By Web Desk US Vice President JD Vance has said that the negotiations in Pakistan made a &quot;ton of progress,&quot; adding that President Donald Trump did not want a small deal; he was looking for a &ldquo;grand bargain.&rdquo; &ldquo;He [Trump] said that if you&#39;re [Iran] willing to act like a normal country, we are willing to treat you economically like a normal country,&rdquo; Vance said. <hr> Canada, Australia, UK and others call for &lsquo;urgent end to hostilities in Lebanon&rsquo;Published: April 15, 2026 | 01:25 GMT | By Web Desk Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, Jordan, Sierra Leone, and Switzerland have issued a joint statement, expressing deep concern about &ldquo;the worsening humanitarian situation and displacement crisis in Lebanon,&rdquo; Al Jazeera reported. The countries welcoming the ceasefire between the US, Israel, and Iran, and countries called for &ldquo;an urgent end to hostilities in Lebanon,&rdquo; too. &ldquo;Civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected from the effects of hostilities. Humanitarian personnel, who dedicate themselves to protecting and assisting the most vulnerable, must be respected and protected,&rdquo; the statement said &ldquo;Attacks that threaten the safety and security of humanitarian personnel must stop. International humanitarian law must be upheld by all parties to the conflict in all circumstances,&rdquo; it added. The countries also condemned &ldquo;in the strongest terms actions that have killed UN peacekeepers and significantly increased the risks faced by humanitarian personnel in southern Lebanon.&rdquo; <hr style="box-sizing: border-box; height: 0px; overflow: visible; clear: both; user-select: none; break-after: page; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"> Trump says war on Iran &#39;very close to over&#39; &nbsp;Published: April 15, 2026 | 0:44 GMT | By Web Desk US President Donald Trump has said that in his view, the US-Israel war on Iran was &ldquo;very close to over.&rdquo;&nbsp; In response to a question as to why he was referring to the war on Iran in the past tense, the US president said: &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s close to over.&rdquo;&nbsp; &ldquo;I mean, I view it as very close to over,&rdquo; Trump said.&nbsp; While speaking to Fox News, the US president said that if he were to raise the &ldquo;stakes&rdquo; in the war, it would take Iran 20 years to rebuild their country.&nbsp; &ldquo;I think they want to make a deal very badly,&rdquo; he said. <hr style="line-height: 2;"> Rubio meets Egyptian foreign minister, discusses Iran ceasefirePublished: April 15, 2026 | 00:58GMT | By Web Desk US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, Al Jazeera reported. A spokesperson for Rubio said the leaders &ldquo;discussed the ceasefire with Iran and the importance of securing long-term peace in the Middle East.&rdquo; The statement further noted that Rubio &ldquo;also discussed joint efforts to disarm Hamas, in line with the President&rsquo;s 20-Point Plan for Gaza, and explored ways to bolster the US-Egypt economic and commercial relationship.&quot; Rubio also &ldquo;stressed the importance of ongoing US and Egyptian efforts to achieve a humanitarian truce in Sudan,&rdquo; the statement read. <hr> Guterres expresses enormous admiration for PakistanPublished: April 14, 2026 | 22:49GMT | By AFP UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed enormous admiration for Pakistan for the peace talks held in Islamabad last week.&nbsp; The UN official said that it was a very important initiative that Pakistan has assumed in order to bring peace to the Middle East.

Americas

US president says if he were to raise the stakes in the war, it would take Iran 20 years to rebuild, adds Iran wants to make a deal "very badly"; UN secretary-general expresses enormous admiration for Pakistan for Islamabad talks, terms it a "very important initiative"; VP Vance says negotiations in Pakistan made "ton of progress."



Trump says war on Iran 'very close to over'  

ISLAMABAD: The foreign ministers of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, T&uuml;rkiye, and Egypt will meet in Ankara on Friday, a press release issued by Pakistan&rsquo;s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday.&nbsp; The foreign ministers of the four nations met last month in Islamabad for consultations aimed at de-escalating the ongoing conflict involving Iran and the US. The meetings highlighted Pakistan&rsquo;s expanding diplomatic outreach as regional powers intensified coordination to contain the conflict affecting security, humanitarian conditions, and global economic stability. In a press release issued today, the foreign office said that in a follow-up consultative meeting, senior officials of the respective foreign ministries met today in Islamabad. The Pakistan delegation to the meeting was led by the Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Tahir Andrabi, and the delegations of T&uuml;rkiye, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia were headed respectively by Deputy Foreign Minister Ambassador Musa Kulaklikaya; Assistant Foreign Minister Ambassador Nazih El Naggari; and MFA Director General Prince Dr Abdullah bin Khalid bin Saud Al-Kabeer AlSaud. The deliberations of the meeting held in Islamabad will be submitted for consideration at the forthcoming meeting of the four foreign ministers on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum (ADF). The senior officials also made a joint call to the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Foreign Secretary Ambassador Amna Baloch.

Foreign Affairs

The foreign ministers will participate in the Antalya Diplomacy Forum; foreign office says officials of the respective foreign ministries met today in Islamabad.

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Egypt to meet in Ankara on Friday

DHAKA: About 250 people, including children, were feared missing after a boat carrying Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi nationals capsized in the Andaman Sea, the United Nations said on Tuesday.&nbsp;&quot;The trawler, which departed from Teknaf in southern Bangladesh and was on its way to Malaysia, reportedly sank due to heavy winds, rough seas, and overcrowding,&quot; the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement.&nbsp;Thousands of Rohingya, Myanmar&#39;s persecuted Muslim minority, risk their lives every year fleeing repression and civil war in their country by sea, often aboard makeshift boats.&nbsp;The Rohingya on board the boat were likely leaving huge camps in Bangladesh&#39;s Cox&#39;s Bazar, where more than a million refugees forced to flee Myanmar&#39;s western state of Rakhine live in squalid conditions.&nbsp;Rakhine state has been the scene of fierce fighting between the military and the Arakan Army, an ethnic minority rebel group, over control of the territory.&nbsp;The exact circumstances surrounding the latest incident were unclear, but preliminary information indicated that the vessel was carrying 280 people and left Bangladesh on April 4.&nbsp;&quot;This tragic incident reflects the dire consequences of protracted displacement and the absence of durable solutions for the Rohingya,&quot; the UNHCR statement said.&nbsp;It was also &quot;a reminder of the efforts urgently needed to address the root causes of displacement in Myanmar and create conditions that would allow Rohingya refugees to return home voluntarily, safely and with dignity,&quot; it said.&nbsp;The Andaman Sea stretches along the western shores of Myanmar, Thailand and the Malay Peninsula.&nbsp;Last year, the UNHCR said that 427 Rohingya were feared dead at sea in two shipwrecks off the Myanmar coast in May.

Asia

The United Nations says about 250 people, including children, are feared missing after a boat carrying Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi nationals capsizes in the Andaman Sea.

About 250 people feared missing after boat capsizes in Andaman Sea: UN

UNITED NATIONS: The UN secretary-general on Tuesday called for the resumption of &quot;serious negotiations&quot; to end the war in the Middle East, saying the crisis has &quot;no military solution.&quot;&nbsp;Antonio Guterres also told journalists at United Nations headquarters in New York that international freedom of navigation must be respected &quot;by all parties&quot; in the Strait of Hormuz.&nbsp;&quot;There is no military solution to this crisis. Peace agreements require persistent engagement and political will. Serious negotiations must resume,&quot; he said.&nbsp;Guterres said the ceasefire between the United States and Iran &quot;must be preserved&quot; -- referring to the two-week truce agreed last Wednesday after mediation by Pakistan.&nbsp;The two sides held talks in Islamabad at the weekend but failed to reach an agreement. US President Donald Trump told the New York Post on Tuesday that a second round of Iran talks could happen in Pakistan &quot;over the next two days.&quot;&nbsp;The UN chief welcomed the start Tuesday of the first direct talks in decades between Israel and Lebanon -- a dialogue being held in Washington and opposed by pro-Iran Hezbollah, which is battling Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.&nbsp;&quot;Nobody expects that these talks today will solve all the problems, but I think it will be very important if these talks create the conditions to a change in the way the actors have been developing their activities,&quot; Guterres said.&nbsp;&quot;Until now, the truth is that Hezbollah and Israel have always helped each other to destabilize the government of Lebanon,&quot; he said.&nbsp;Guterres also made a broader appeal for diplomacy and &quot;restraint and responsibility,&quot; and for respect for international law which was being &quot;trampled&quot; around the world.&nbsp;The UN chief warned that &quot;lawlessness breeds chaos,&quot; suffering and destruction.&nbsp;

The UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres calls for serious negotiations to end the Middle East war, saying no military solution exists, urging ceasefire preservation, respect for Hormuz navigation, and renewed diplomacy between involved parties.

UN chief says 'no military solution' for Mideast crisis 

WASHINGTON: The IMF cut its 2026 global growth projection Tuesday, warning that the world economy could be &quot;thrown off course&quot; by war in the Middle East as the conflict roils commodity markets and sparks higher prices.&nbsp;The global economy is set to grow by 3.1 percent this year, said the International Monetary Fund in its World Economic Outlook report, released during its spring meetings in Washington.&nbsp;This is down from 3.3 percent forecast in January before hostilities erupted as US-Israeli strikes against Iran starting on February 28 prompted Tehran&#39;s retaliation and sparked a broader conflict in the region.&nbsp;&quot;We were planning to upgrade growth for 2026 to 3.4 percent&quot; if not for the war, IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas told AFP.&nbsp;Prices of oil, gas and fertilizers have surged due to the conflict, as Iran virtually blocked traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for shipments. US President Donald Trump has also ordered a naval blockade around Iran&#39;s ports.&nbsp;The fund expects higher inflation this year at 4.4 percent, 0.6 percentage points above its January forecast.&nbsp;After this the &quot;disinflation path&quot; of the past few years should reassert itself, Gourinchas said.&nbsp;But these projections assume a relatively short-lived conflict with temporary energy market disruptions.&nbsp;&quot;We have to be very concerned about the potential for this to become a major energy crisis,&quot; he warned.&nbsp;In more adverse scenarios where energy prices remain steep for the year, global growth could slow to 2.5 percent or even around 2.0 percent.&nbsp;&quot;Since 1980, it&#39;s basically been four times when growth has been at two percent or below,&quot; said Gourinchas.&nbsp;These included periods such as the 2008 global financial crisis and Covid-19 pandemic.&nbsp;&quot;This latest shock comes less than a year since the shift in US trade policies, and the transition to a new international trade system is still ongoing,&quot; the IMF said.&nbsp;A year ago, Trump unleashed sweeping tariffs on US trading partners, rocking financial markets and snarling supply chains.&nbsp;A swath of these tariffs has been struck down by the Supreme Court, but uncertainty lingers as Trump moves to reimpose duties via other means.&nbsp;Uneven impactAlthough overall revisions to global growth and inflation appear modest, the IMF cautioned that the war has taken a bigger toll on the Middle East and &quot;vulnerable economies&quot; elsewhere.&nbsp;&quot;The impact on emerging market and developing economies would be almost twice that on advanced economies,&quot; the fund said.&nbsp;Higher energy and fertilizer costs could bring steeper food costs, mainly hitting low-income energy importers, Gourinchas said.&nbsp;Growth projections this year for the Middle East and central Asia were cut by around half to 1.9 percent.&nbsp;Saudi Arabia, the Middle East&#39;s biggest economy, is set to see 3.1 percent growth this year, down 1.4 percentage points from January&#39;s expectation.&nbsp;Among the world&#39;s two biggest economies, US growth is still set to accelerate to 2.3 percent this year, although the pace of growth was revised slightly lower.&nbsp;&quot;The US at the margin is benefiting from higher energy prices,&quot; Gourinchas said. But gasoline prices have also jumped for consumers.&nbsp;China&#39;s growth is anticipated to cool to 4.4 percent, a touch below the January forecast, too.&nbsp;The IMF flagged an underlying &quot;unevenness&quot; in both economies.&nbsp;Domestic activity lags behind exports in China, while a strong showing in the United States has been accompanied by low employment growth.&nbsp;Euro area growth was revised 0.2 percentage points down to 1.1 percent for 2026.&nbsp;UK growth saw a bigger downshift by 0.5 percentage points, to 0.8 percent this year.&nbsp;While the IMF does not expect inflation expectations to go off-track, there is concern that they may not be as well-anchored as before.&nbsp;Past inflation episodes remain fresh in the public&#39;s minds, and firms might act to restore margins more quickly than before.&nbsp;&quot;If that happens, then you can get much more persistent inflation going on, that would be reflected in higher inflation expectations,&quot; Gourinchas said.&nbsp;If so, central banks might need to step in and raise interest rates to cool the economy, despite the ongoing negative supply shock.

The International Monetary Fund cut 2026 global growth to 3.1% due to the Middle East war, warning of energy shocks, rising inflation, and slower growth especially in vulnerable economies with risks of a deeper global slowdown.

IMF cuts 2026 global growth forecast on Mideast war

ISLAMABAD: Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said the Trump administration has been unable to conduct the kind of disciplined, technically grounded diplomacy needed for negotiations on Iran&rsquo;s nuclear program. She was responding to a question during a recent interview on MSNBC&rsquo;s talk show Morning Joe.&nbsp; Clinton said negotiations are a slow, highly specialized process that requires officials with real expertise in nuclear weapons and verification, contrasting that with what she portrayed as the administration&rsquo;s reliance on a small inner circle to handle several major crises simultaneously. &ldquo;When I was Secretary of State, I began secret negotiations with Iran to try to reach a nuclear weapons deal to prevent it from ever having a nuclear arsenal. It was a very slow, deliberative process,&rdquo; she said. The former secretary said that the US would need to &ldquo;bring in people who actually know something about nuclear weapons.&rdquo;&nbsp; &ldquo;We had physicists and nuclear weapons practitioners at the table when our administration was negotiating the Joint Plan of Action [pact with Iran]. You need people who know something and know the history,&rdquo; she said. She was sharply critical of the administration&rsquo;s strategic judgment, saying she was stunned by reports that President Trump had not anticipated Iran could try to close the Strait of Hormuz.&nbsp; Clinton said that in the military exercises she attended while in government, closing the strait had long been seen as one of the most immediate risks in any confrontation with Tehran.&nbsp; She said she supported Trump bombing Iran&rsquo;s nuclear sites in June of last year because she thought that was an appropriate and limited strategic objective. &ldquo;[But] I opposed his incoherent attack on Iran,&rdquo; she said.&nbsp; &ldquo;I know from personal experience how Netanyahu has tried to get every American president to agree to have an open-ended war with Iran, because I had many hours-long conversations with him and his war cabinet about this and refused to go along with a very inchoate desire to do something to Iran that, you know, with no real end state,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I think you&#39;ve got to get back into hard negotiations with the right people at the table who know what they are doing. And I think you&#39;ve then got to make it very clear that we want our allies involved. We don&#39;t want to be dissing our allies because they have a big stake in this,&rdquo; she said. In her interview, Clinton urged Congress to assert its constitutional role and place limits on presidential war-making before lasting damage is done to American authority.

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in a recent interview, says the US is in a ‘very weak position’ in its dealings with Iran, arguing that Washington has lost the leverage and initiative it once possessed.