Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Saturday hailed Pakistan\u2019s success over India during the military escalation between the two countries earlier this year
\n Islamabad
\n\u201cA strong message was sent to the world,\u201d he said while speaking to the media in Islamabad, where he gave an overview of Pakistan\u2019s diplomatic efforts in 2025.
\n\u201cOur international standing has [\u2026] improved due to principled, proactive and result-oriented diplomacy,\u201d Dar said, reflecting on the past year. He said Pakistan was \u201cknown to be a diplomatically isolated country\u201d at the time PM Shehbaz Sharif took oath last year.
\nSpeaking on the May conflict, Dar said India\u2019s claim of regional hegemony and being the net security provider was tested during the four-day escalation.
\n\u201cWe did not ask anyone to mediate between us,\u201d the deputy premier asserted.
\nHe recalled that Pakistan shot down seven jets of India during the May 7 air battle, which was followed by \u201cincorrect\u201d statements by New Delhi that Pakistan had attacked 15 Indian military installations. He also hailed the armed forces\u2019 technology for intercepting 79 out of 80 drones sent by India to Pakistan in 36 hours.
\nThe minister pointed out that Pakistan had remained \u201cproactively engaged\u201d after both the Pulwama and the Pahalgam incidents.
\n\u201cThis time, their mala fide intentions regarding the Indus waters. They have been corresponding with Pakistan for the last 1.5-2 years on climate change that \u2018ground realities have changed\u2019,\u201d he said.
\nDetailing the May events, Dar said the civil-military leadership led by PM Shehbaz \u201cauthorised\u201d certain decisions in a meeting on the night of May 9. He said India then \u201cmade the mistake\u201d of attacking the Nur Khan Airbase in the early hours of May 10.
\n\u201cThe process which had been authorised by the PM had to be implemented,\u201d Dar said, but India made the \u201csuper mistake\u201d, which then led to Pakistan\u2019s retaliatory operation.
\n\u201cAfter April 22, we used to have long hours. From [May] 6 to 10, we used to be here at night too,\u201d the minister said, adding that he conducted over 60 phone calls with foreign dignitaries before May 6 and after that.
\nSpeaking about India\u2019s claims of Islamabad attacking it, Dar said: \u201cI told one of the P5 countries that this is a digital world, it cannot be hidden \u2026 they called me back after 16-17 hours and told me we had not attacked anywhere in India. This was a first serious setback for them.\u201d
\nDetailing his exchanges with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Dar said, \u201cAt around 8:17am, I received a call from Secretary Rubio of USA that \u2018India is ready to ceasefire, are you willing?\u2019 I said \u2019we never wanted to go to war\u2019.
\n\u201cWithin 45 minutes, I received a call from Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal. \u2018Brother, I understand that you have authorised Secretary Rubio. Am I permitted to talk to India\u2019 [\u2026] Prince Faisal said I will talk to the foreign minister of India and get back,\u201d Dar recalled.
\nHe added that within an hour, the Saudi minister called him back and said he had also confirmed the ceasefire.
\n\u201cIt has been established that Pakistan\u2019s armed forces, its technology and its capacity for defence is very solid. We only did in self-defence according to what was done to us; otherwise, it could have been much greater than this too,\u201d the deputy PM said.
\n\u201cAllah made [Pakistan] a nuclear power and a missile power. What you need now is economic power,\u201d he stressed, highlighting that the country possessed great natural resources, such as mines and minerals, gas, and hydrocarbons.
\n\u201cRelated to Pahalgam and other incidents, our main analysis shared with everyone is that till the time the Jammu and Kashmir issue is not resolved, [\u2026] perpetual and permanent peace cannot be established in the region.\u201d
\nThe foreign minister reiterated Pakistan\u2019s protest against India\u2019s actions in occupied Kashmir, including \u201cdemographic changes and amendments in the Constitution\u201d.
\nDar noted that the May episode had revived the Kashmir issue at the international level, with the United Nations Security Council also discussing agendas related to human rights violations in India-occupied Kashmir.
\nOn the Indus Waters Treaty, Dar said the FO had actively engaged with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and others.
\nIce breaks with Bangladesh
\nThe deputy PM also highlighted that a \u201cmajor ice-breaking breakthrough\u201d occurred with Bangladesh as ties between the two nations revived.
\nDar recalled that Hina Rabbani Khar had visited Bangladesh in 2012, but there had been no engagement afterwards because of the \u201canti-Pakistan\u201d government there.
\n\u201cMy 36-hour visit to Bangladesh was very engaging. I had meetings with the chief executive, the foreign minister and cabinet ministers and advisers,\u201d he observed.
\n\u201cDuring my time there of 36 hours, I saw great gestures of goodwill for Pakistan,\u201d Dar said, adding that Islamabad will proactively engage with Dhaka after the February polls.
\n\u201cPakistan\u2019s diplomacy during the crisis demonstrated our proactive approach and it showed our ability of transforming challenges into opportunities and our thought of effective narrative projection with principled engagement,\u201d the minister said.
\nPositive ties with US
\nDar hailed the United States\u2019 \u201cproactive role\u201d in the Pak-India ceasefire.
\n\u201cThat is why on June 11, we nominated [President Donald] Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize 2026. The media had confusion on the date. I signed the letter on the authorisation of PM and sent it,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cPresident Trump trumpeted the drum of May conflict success the most,\u201d Dar quipped.
\n\u201cAround 60 times, he reiterated that Pakistan shot down six fighter jets of India. Then he praised the prime minister and the field marshal. The relations with the US have started again towards a positive trajectory,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Saturday hailed Pakistan\u2019s success over India during the military escalation between the two countries earlier this year Islamabad \u201cA strong message was sent to the world,\u201d he said while speaking to the media in Islamabad, where he gave an overview of Pakistan\u2019s diplomatic efforts in 2025. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":522457,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-522437","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n