PLAUDITS regarding Pakistan’s role in brokering the US-Iran ceasefire agreement keep pouring in, with US President Donald Trump again acknowledging Islamabad’s key role in brokering the negotiation framework. Fresh from the signing of the ‘Islamabad MoU’, Pakistan participated in a quadrilateral meet along with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkiye. Our country’s standing as a Middle Eastern player is growing. But does this position align with its priorities?

Pakistan has certainly done well to broaden and diversify its relationships across the Middle East, and to have anticipated the need for flexibility in the face of intra-GCC tensions. Islamabad succeeded as a go-between because it had already invested in stronger ties with Doha, Ankara, Cairo and others, largely with an eye to pursuing trade and investment.

But each bilateral relationship and regional bloc will pull Pakistan in different directions. For example, the defence deal signed with Saudi Arabia last September will define Pakistan’s foreign policy, particularly in relation to other integral regional allies such as the UAE and Iran. This alliance has already paid off with the $3 billion backstop provided by Riyadh in April this year after Abu........

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