Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is due to return to Pakistan on Tuesday evening, ending a two-week tour of the United Kingdom and the United States that was built around the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The prime minister left Islamabad on 16 September. He spent three days in London before travelling on to New York, and stopped in London again for two days on the way home, according to Dawn.
Why the London stopovers
The stops in the British capital were planned to break up the journey. A source quoted by Dawn explained that the prime minister “opted to stay somewhere, preferably in London”, because “travelling from Pakistan to the US and vice versa is quite a long journey.”
The week at the United Nations
The centrepiece of the tour was the prime minister’s address to the General Assembly on 25 September. The speech focused on regional security, water rights and global conflicts, and renewed Pakistan’s call for “peace through diplomacy”.
As The Indus Compass reported, the prime minister used the platform to call for open sea lanes and warn India over the Indus waters, telling world leaders that the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab were “arteries of the global economy” that must remain open. Pakistan’s delegation later answered India’s reply at the Assembly on terrorism and the Indus Waters Treaty.
Meetings on the sidelines
On the sidelines of the session, the prime minister held a series of meetings with world leaders:
| Leader | Focus of the talks |
|---|---|
| UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres | Climate challenges, Islamophobia and regional security |
| Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian | Regional peace, bilateral cooperation and de-escalation in the Middle East |
| Crown Prince of Kuwait | Not disclosed |
| Chairman of Bosnia’s Presidency | Not disclosed |
| Leaders of Kenya and Austria | Not disclosed |
The meeting with President Pezeshkian carried particular weight, as the war involving Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz continue to disrupt oil and gas supplies to Pakistan and the wider region.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, federal ministers and senior officials accompanied the prime minister during the New York part of the visit.
A pitch to American investors
The prime minister also used the trip to court investment. In New York he told American business leaders that Pakistan’s economy was stable and moving towards growth, pointing to reforms of the Federal Board of Revenue, the digitisation of the economy and the expansion of e-governance, and inviting US and Pakistani-American entrepreneurs to invest.
What awaits him at home
The prime minister returns to a busy agenda. An International Monetary Fund mission led by Iva Petrova has been in Pakistan since 23 September for talks that could unlock about $1.2 billion, and the government has notified new public procurement rules with the IMF team in town. The security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan has also remained a leading political issue during his absence.
Why it matters
The two weeks abroad gave Pakistan a platform to set out its positions on the Gulf war, the Indus waters and its economic recovery before a global audience. How much of that diplomacy turns into investment, support at the IMF and progress on regional de-escalation will be tested in the weeks ahead.
This article draws on reporting by Dawn and earlier coverage by The Indus Compass.
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