ISLAMABAD — Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will embark on a critical multi-nation diplomatic tour from July 3 to July 5, visiting Iran and Turkiye to reinforce regional ties, participate in state mourning, and spearhead an expansive bilateral investment drive.
The high-level delegation—including Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, along with several key cabinet members and senior officials—was confirmed by Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson Tahir Andrabi during his weekly media briefing on Thursday.
Tehran Visit: Honoring Late Supreme Leader
The Prime Minister’s first stop will be Tehran, where he will join world leaders to attend the official funeral services for Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated on February 28.
Spokesperson Tahir Andrabi stated that the premier will personally convey the profound condolences of the government and people of Pakistan to the Iranian leadership, reaffirming Islamabad’s solidarity with its neighbor during an intense period of national grief.
Istanbul Summit: Catalyzing Trade & Investment
Following his engagements in Iran, PM Shehbaz will fly to Istanbul at the formal invitation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The trip is explicitly designed to shift economic gears:
Bilateral Strategy: The two leaders will hold extensive talks to breathe fresh momentum into mutual trade, industrial collaboration, and strategic investment.
Pakistan Business Conference: The premier will address a major investment forum in Istanbul targeting Turkish tycoons, showcasing opportunities across Pakistan’s Special Economic Zones (SEZs), information technology infrastructure, green energy initiatives, and state asset privatization.
Regional Peace: The leadership meeting will double as a platform to deliberate on evolving Middle Eastern security dynamics.
Mediation Update: The US-Iran Peace Track
Providing an update on the US-Iran conflict, the Foreign Office noted that Pakistan has aggressively scaled up its quiet diplomacy alongside Qatari partners.
Islamabad is pushing for full implementation of the 14-point Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on June 18, which established a roadmap to permanently de-escalate the war, safely reopen the critical Strait of Hormuz, and enter core negotiations within a strict 60-day window.
The FO welcomed the substantive progress made during the follow-up US-Iran breakout sessions that concluded in Doha on Tuesday morning, confirming that Deputy PM Ishaq Dar remains in constant telephonic contact with key international stakeholders to anchor the mediation framework.
FO Slasts India Over Indus Water Treaty Threat
Turning to regional cross-border issues, Pakistan issued an uncompromising rebuff to recent Indian political rhetoric attempting to suspend the historic six-decade-old Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) by leveraging terrorism allegations.
“Let this be very clear: the real issue is not terrorism,” Andrabi asserted firmly. “The real issue is the growing disposition within the Indian leadership to treat a shared international river system as a strategic asset that can be controlled, withheld, or diverted at will. Water is not a tool of coercion or political pressure.”
The FO emphasized that any unilateral attempt by New Delhi to place the treaty in abeyance is legally invalid under international law. Commenting on whether external maneuvers could ever systematically dry out the country, Andrabi concluded defidently: “No country has the power to convert Pakistan into a barren land.”
