Pakistan’s case has been strengthened by its evolving role as an effective middle power and bridge across competing alignments. It maintains an all-weather strategic partnership with China while preserving important relations with the United States. It enjoys deep ties with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, retains channels with Iran, sustains a close partnership with Türkiye and possesses longstanding relationships across Central Asia. It is simultaneously a major Muslim country, a South Asian state, an Indian Ocean power and a participant in Eurasian multilateralism.

This diplomatic range is increasingly valuable as relations among major powers harden. The transition from unipolarity to multipolarity is producing flexible and overlapping alignments rather than rigid ideological blocs. Developing countries seek constructive relations with several centres of power while resisting demands to make exclusive choices. Pakistan’s effort to maintain relations across geopolitical divides reflects the strategic autonomy BRICS claims to defend.

Its mediatory potential has also become visible during recent crises in West Asia. Islamabad has advocated negotiation and restraint rather than military escalation. Its access to Washington, Beijing, Riyadh, Tehran and Ankara provides a platform for facilitation that relatively few states possess. At a time when communication channels are narrowing, the ability to engage antagonistic parties is itself a strategic asset.

Pakistan’s experience in the Shanghai........

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