Basra has long been a key cog in Iraq’s economy but, after months of Iran choking off Gulf oil exports with its blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, the city is suffering.

Fuel trucks stand idle and workers face pay cuts and lay-offs.

“I haven’t done anything in a month,” Fawzi told AFP. “What are we supposed to maintain?” Many Basra residents have lost their jobs or taken heavy pay cuts as private contractors, as oil fields and the Umm Qasr cargo port scale back operations.

Crude oil exports account for almost 90 per cent of Iraq’s foreign revenue, and are primarily shipped through Hormuz via the cluster of facilities around Basra, the country’s only gateway to the Gulf.

The war has cruelly exposed Iraq’s dependence on oil, and its main export route, dealing a setback to its economic recovery after decades of conflict.

Fawzi said his company first slashed salaries by 20pc, then by half, before laying off dozens of employees. He now reports for duty just 15 days a month.

Basra’s parking areas overflow with oil trucks. Some linger empty, while others wait for weeks with full tanks to load their crude onto ships.

Cheap oil

Before the war started at the end of February, Iraq produced around four million barrels of crude per day and exported an average of 3.4 million, mostly via Hormuz.

But when Iran blockaded Hormuz, onshore storage quickly filled up, forcing Iraq to slash production.

Experts have long warned Iraq to introduce different income streams to cushion swings in the energy market.

But with a fledgling private sector, poor banking system and dilapidated infrastructure, diversification is difficult.

Iraq has sought to calm fears by using alternative routes, including trucks through Syria and a pipeline to Turkey, but they can handle only a fraction of the sea-bound trade.

After a sharp drop, Iraqi oil exports through Hormuz came climbing back in the first week of September, data from the maritime tracking firm Kpler showed.

However, Iraq sold the oil at “discounted prices”, a government official said.

According to authorities, Iraq exported an average of 2.6m bpd so far in September.

Iran had announced a special exemption for Iraqi tankers in late August, while the US says it has recently managed to boost Gulf exports through a secure Hormuz corridor hugging the Omani coast.

Nonetheless, the economic fallout is evident. Prices have surged and the Iraqi dinar has fluctuated.

Foreign currency reserves fell by $20 billion, according to the government official.

Iraq relies heavily on foreign currency from oil sales to pay civil servants, finance imports and stabilise the dinar.

The collapse in these revenues forced authorities to borrow internally.

While the government hopes it can continue borrowing for months, “it’s probably banking on a resolution to the conflict before the end of this year”, economic expert Ali al-Mawlawi said.

The recent partial recovery in oil exports bought the government “a little more time”, and allowed it to pay salaries with minor delays.

“The imperative is to ensure that it can continue” to do so, Mawlawi warned.

Empty wharves

Iraq imports most of its goods, from food and medicine to electronics and natural gas.

But Umm Qasr, the major southern port, now stands nearly deserted.

Only a few vessels are docked in its northern section, including an Iranian-flagged cargo ship, and a vessel that port employees said had passed through Hormuz from China.

Three newly built wharves are vacant, their cranes and walkways empty.

The downturn has hit hard. State port workers lost their monthly incentives, which are linked to the port’s profits and had supplemented their pay.

The head of the port’s northern sector, Captain Salem Hussein, said “if ships don’t come… companies cannot maintain the same workforce”.

“Real work resumes only when Hormuz reopens,” he added.

The disruption has rippled through the local economy.

Basra electronics vendor Zaid Hadi, 36, said sales had halved, blaming higher import costs, salary cuts, job losses and the exodus of foreign oil-sector workers.

Customers “now hesitate to spend… worried about possible salary delays” and fearing harder times ahead, he said.

Amir, 35, worked for a private contractor at an oil field that he said took drastic action, including slashing salaries by 40 percent.

“In Basra, we depend on the port and the oil, and now both have come to a halt,” Amir said.

Since 2019, 4A has generated its own power, including through solar panels, making it an exception in Bangladesh’s garment industry, the world’s second-biggest exporter after China. The Middle East crisis has worsened energy shortages in the country where much of the electricity is generated using natural gas, furnace oil and diesel.

A recent survey of 134 knitwear factories found that 55 per cent had seen buyers cancel or cut orders because of gas and power shortages since late August, and 78pc had partially halted production. The factories also reported shipment delays and discounted orders to buyers.

But that’s not yet the case at 4A, whose factory on Dhaka’s outskirts employs nearly 7,500 workers and meets around 40pc of its electricity needs through solar, the rest mainly through its own gas and diesel generation.

“We never stayed at a single-source energy dependency. We had backups for everything,” said company co-owner Abdullah Hil Nakib.

“We need some sort of certainty. But the cost of doing business has increased. First there was a shortage of oil, then a shortage of gas.”

Costlier diesel has pushed 4A’s production costs up by 2 to 3pc, adding up to 5 million taka (Rs11.3m) to its monthly fuel bill, he said.

The pressure on factories intensified on Monday after Bangladesh raised fuel prices by up to 17.4pc, a move the government said was necessary because of soaring global prices and higher shipping costs due to the Middle East conflict triggered by US-Israeli attacks on Iran in February.

To reduce future disruptions, 4A plans to install an industrial-scale battery system that would allow operations to continue for several hours if power sources fail.

“We’ve been able to absorb the extra costs, but not every factory can afford to do that,” said Nakib, whose factory roofs are nearly covered in solar panels.

Steep fuel price hike to pile more pressure

Soaring gas import costs are slowing the country’s industrial growth, causing electricity outages and hurting spending on development projects due to higher gas subsidies, Bangladesh’s power minister said last week.

Bangladesh’s ready-made garment sector accounts for more than 80pc of export earnings, employs about 4m workers and contributes around 10pc to gross domestic product.

Some manufacturers have incurred additional costs by shipping goods by air or offering discounts to meet delivery deadlines after energy-related disruptions.

“Our margins are already very thin, and the fuel price hike will squeeze them further,” said garment exporter Shahidullah Azim.

“It is becoming increasingly difficult for us to absorb higher production and transportation costs while remaining competitive.”

Azim said a Canadian buyer that had been expected to order 25,000 pieces ultimately placed an order for only 8,000, which he attributed to declining buyer confidence amid Bangladesh’s economic and energy challenges.

Companies may be able to pay higher fuel costs, but gas shortages and power cuts are more worrying for some, given that those problems are not as intense in competitors like Vietnam and India, said Mohiuddin Rubel, additional managing director of Denim Expert Ltd, which supplies to brands including H&M.

“Whether we hold our position against other sourcing countries or lose ground to them depends on how well we manage it,” he said.

Header image: Employees work in the sewing section at the Yarn Dyeing Limited factory, amid the energy crisis, in Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh, on September 17, 2026. — Reuters

Umm-e-Hani conceded only 10 runs in her four overs, including a wicket-maiden, as Pakistan overcame Bangladesh’s early resistance to restrict them to 114 for seven after posting 145 for eight.

The medal is Pakistan’s third in the women’s cricket competition at the Asian Games, following gold-medal triumphs in 2010 and 2014.

It also marked a measure of redemption for Pakistan, who had lost the bronze-medal match to Bangladesh at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou.

Pakistan had been in danger of posting a modest total after collapsing from 46 without loss to 67 for five, but Fatima changed the course of the innings with an aggressive 30-ball 45.

The captain, who struck three fours and three sixes, added 67 from 43 balls with Aliya Riaz to take Pakistan towards a competitive total. Aliya contributed 25 from 22 balls, including two sixes and a four.

Fatima’s innings was particularly significant in the context of her prolific year. She entered the match as Pakistan’s leading run-scorer in women’s Twenty20 internationals in 2026 and took her tally to 540 with Tuesday’s knock. She also remains Pakistan’s leading wicket-taker in T20Is this year.

Earlier, Pakistan made a steady start after Fatima won the toss and elected to bat, with Gull Feroza and Shawaal Zulfiqar putting on 46 in 6.4 overs.

Gull struck six fours in her 23-ball 31 before Nahida Akter ended the opening stand, while Shawaal made 17 from 27 balls.

Bangladesh then seized control, taking five wickets for 21 runs to leave Pakistan struggling at 67 for five. Fatima and Aliya, however, rebuilt the innings before accelerating after Pakistan reached 90 for five in 15 overs.

Fatima struck Rabeya Khan for six before both batters cleared the ropes against Sanjida Akter in the 17th over. Pakistan added 55 runs in the final five overs, although Bangladesh hit back by taking two wickets and conceding only seven in the final over.

Nahida, Shorna Akter and Ritu Moni claimed two wickets apiece for Bangladesh.

Pakistan’s defence began emphatically as Umm-e-Hani and Tasmia Rubab reduced Bangladesh to 20 for three inside five overs.

Umm-e-Hani struck in her first over, removing Juairiya Ferdous, before Tasmia dismissed Dilara Akter for 12. Umm-e-Hani then removed Sobhana Mostary early in the fifth over.

All three catches in the opening exchanges were taken by Saira Jabeen, including a spectacular effort at the cover boundary to dismiss Dilara.

Bangladesh’s hopes rested on captain Nigar Sultana and Sharmin Akhter, who added 47 for the fourth wicket. Nigar made 25 off 30 balls with three fours, while Sharmin remained unbeaten on 46 from 45 balls, hitting four fours.

But with Bangladesh requiring more than 10 runs an over at the halfway stage, the task became increasingly difficult. Ayesha Zafar trapped Nigar leg-before in the 14th over, before Umm-e-Hani and Fatima struck in successive overs to remove Shorna Akter and Ritu Moni.

Umm-e-Hani’s dismissal of Shorna for six gave her career-best T20I figures of three for 10, improving on her previous best of two for 28 against Sri Lanka in Dambulla earlier this year.

Nashra Sandhu removed Rabeya Khan for the seventh wicket with Bangladesh on 93, leaving the target beyond their reach.

Fatima also chipped in with the wicket of Ritu Moni, taking her tally to 31 wickets in T20Is in 2026.

Pakistan’s campaign had begun with a three-wicket victory over Thailand in the quarter-final before Sri Lanka beat them by eight wickets in the semi-final.

The bronze-medal victory ensured they returned home from the Asian Games with a podium finish.

India and Sri Lanka will contest for the gold medal.

CDF Munir made the statement while visiting the Peshawar Corps Headquarters, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said. He was received by the Peshawar Corps commander.

During the visit, CDF Munir was briefed on the “security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, ongoing counter-terrorism operations, border management measures and operational preparedness of formations deployed in the province”.

The CDF lauded the “high morale, readiness and professionalism” of the security personnel. He acknowledged their “steadfast commitment to safeguarding the country and its people”.

According to ISPR, CDF Munir directed troops to stay vigilant and practice the “highest standards” of operational preparedness.

“The armed forces, with the unwavering support of the nation, remain resolute in their determination to defeat terrorism and ensure lasting peace and stability across the country,” ISPR quoted him as saying.

During the visit, CDF Munir also laid a floral wreath at Yadgar-e-Shuhada and offered Fateha.

He paid tribute to martyrs, stressing that their “supreme sacrifices would never be forgotten”.

More to follow.

THIS is an old song, which seems to be an apt description of journalists — especially in Pakistan. Over the decades, the profession has moved on from print to television and now digital but our training remains rooted in old-fashioned ‘generalism’ (if there’s such a word). As with the bureaucrats who run petroleum one day and health the other, we journalists move from commenting on foreign affairs one evening to the economy and healthcare the next. The notion of specialising in issues or studying them in depth is as alien to us as democracy is to Islamabad’s neighbours.

Perhaps this is why most in the profession rarely bother with reading and books. Take history — even of Pakistan. Those of us who entered the field at the time of newspapers learnt the country’s history through oral tradition. Late-night chats with senior colleagues, who had survived martial laws and newsroom working hours, told us of tumultuous times such as war, secession and dictatorship. They included those who remembered what it was like working during the censorship of Ziaul Haq’s times, the night Pervez Musharraf removed the government or when an operation was first launched against the MQM in Karachi. The oral history we learnt alongside copy editing was the best counter-narrative to the whitewashed account taught in school books under Pakistan Studies. Our daastango provided us with a fun but patchy account of the land of the pure.

Patchy, for it leaves us with more questions than answers — the personal accounts that we learn history from are rooted in Pakistan but are a little sketchy on details of the region. Few journalists have travelled around the region and reported on other countries. As a result, many may point out similarities between Pakistan and Egypt (aren’t they obvious?) but few will note what makes them different and why. For a hack such as myself, the biggest difference is perhaps Pakistan’s impatience with its rulers. Our last dictator spent eight years in power, struggling in the last two. And in Egypt, Anwar Sadat spent 11 years in power, Hosni Mubarak around three decades, while Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has been ruling for 12 and is still going strong.

Closer to Pakistan, the Gulf states in general have also enjoyed stability and long reigns without much pressure from below. Evidently, this is due to oil, but can it explain everything? After all, Iran is no less oil-rich and yet it went through a revolution, which perhaps remains unprecedented as a political event in the region. Despite the authoritarianism of both the Shah and the theocracy that followed, Iran has demonstrated that its people believe in resistance. In recent years, they have pushed back multiple times against crackdowns; at times they have even compelled the state to change course. This is a strain missing in Iran’s neighbours to the west.

Crowded, noisy and poor, societies in this region struggle with imperfect democracies.

But to its east, it’s a different story. Pakistan and the rest of South Asia, in comparison to its western neighbours in the Middle East, are poorer and noisier.

Is this why this region has avoided the kind of authoritarianism that marks the Middle East? Crowded, noisy and poor, societies in this region continue to struggle with flawed and imperfect democracies; there is flirtation with authoritarianism but on paper most of them adhere or aspire to the framework left by the British. This is true of Pakistan where martial law dictators have also worked hard to prove their democratic credentials by holding elections. And with it comes the inability of rulers in the region to lord it over their citizens for long periods. Indeed, in recent years, Hasina Wajed’s 15 years in power has been quite a feat. In India, Jawaharlal Nehru and Narendra Modi have also enjoyed prime ministerships for a similar period of time. On the other hand, in Pakistan, the longest power stints have been a bit shorter.

In a tradition closer to Iran, South Asia has also pushed back against dictators of the civilian (Wajed) and military (Musharraf) type, with street protests forcing them to call it a day. Strongmen such as Modi have also been bested by students armed with their wit and social media, while in Pakistan, authoritarian establishments have struggled to clamp down on criticism on X. This is not entirely new: back in the 1970s, both Indira Gandhi’s imposition of the Emergency and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s authoritarian rule came to an end, albeit in very different ways. In one country, the democratic system pushed back while in the other, the military establishment did so.

With all our problems, Pakistan’s journalists still sit in talk shows and complain about the censorship they face; their counterparts in nearby regions are perhaps not allowed to whine thus on live television. In most countries with censorship, journalists usually spend their time complaining about absolute freedom.

There is an ‘argumentative’ South Asian that shapes this region differently from its western neighbours. And perhaps also its eastern ones. Travel east to Myanmar and here once again, regimes tend to become more authoritarian and more long-lasting. The long detention of Aung San Suu Kyi under a martial law regime illustrates this best. After a short experiment with elections and civilian control, Myanmar has returned to military rule but one in which contestation by the people has turned to civil war. While this may seem alien to Pakistanis, it is worrying that in parts of our country we, too, face a situation where the state appears to only control the cities.

But what eventually determines the different state-society relationships in these countries? Why is Myanmar able to sustain military rule while Bangladesh is not? Or why has Pakistan, despite its close ties to the Middle East, not been able to impose a similar system of government? Now if I hadn’t learnt history in newsrooms and had read more, perhaps I could have answered some of these questions.

The writer is a journalist.

Published in Dawn, September 22nd, 2026

I have my own conspiracy theory, if that is what one must call it, about the origins of the phrase and I pin it on the zealous and potent Zionist media. Technically, the phrase is ascribed to the 19th-century claim that Britain backed the Confederates in the American Civil War. But its first significantly notable use was the CIA’s attempt to debunk compelling questions about the assassination of JFK in 1963, particularly those leading to an Israeli hand. We’ll come to that. Nipping curiosity or agreeable narratives about the Israel lobby in the imperial hub of the US, which John Mearsheimer wrote a book about, remains a problem for Third World media consumers of Western-origin reports, which subtly or staunchly, knowingly or unwittingly root for the Zionist worldview.

A new potentially important theory has surfaced about the over-chewed 9/11 narrative. Renowned anti-establishment American anchor Jimmy Dore interviewed Curt Weldon last week. The former 10-term Republican Congressman from Pennsylvania claimed new revelations into the affair. Weldon has spent decades claiming that a secret US military intelligence programme called Able Danger identified 9/11 hijackers before the attacks, and that the information was deliberately buried. Unsurprisingly, the claims routinely have been officially denied.

Weldon served as Congressman from 1987 to 2007 and was vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. Before Congress, he was a lifelong volunteer firefighter, and he responded to the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing and the 9/11 attacks themselves. He has long argued that he lost his 2006 re-election bid as retaliation for his efforts to expose pre-9/11 intelligence failures.

A new potentially important theory has surfaced about the over-chewed 9/11 narrative.

Weldon’s new book, Able Danger: What the 9/11 Commission Never Told You, is scheduled for release today (Sept 22), and presents more than his hitherto detailed accounts of 9/11 allegations.

The central claim is that a classified US Army data-mining programme called Able Danger used supercomputers to analyse intelligence databases and identified leading hijacker Mohamed Atta and his ‘Brooklyn cell’ over a year before 9/11. Weldon alleges that Able Danger team members tried to pass this information to the FBI at least three times by late 2000, but were blocked by military lawyers and bureaucratic ‘walls’.

The 9/11 Commission released its report in 2004, and Able Danger’s findings were nowhere to be seen, the book laments. Weldon claims that the Commission deliberately omitted the most consequential facts to protect reputations and avoid accountability. He said his 2006 election loss was part of a “deep state” plot to prevent him from becoming Armed Services Committee chairman and exposing the truth.

Why was Weldon bringing up the charges today, a quarter century after the event and what’s new? Dore believes the book offers a series of explosive allegations that go beyond the standard ‘Able Danger’ intelligence failure narrative, directly accusing senior US officials of not just failing to prevent 9/11, but of actively planning and covering it up.

A personal memo Weldon retrieved from his archives ties the FBI raid on his daughter’s home three weeks before his 2006 election to the Able Danger cover-up. According to Weldon, the memo was sent by a top adviser to then defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld on the same day as the raid, and it stated: “Kurt, I warned you about Able Danger. Dick and Don are now going to destroy you.” He frames this as proof that his political destruction was orchestrated by Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld to prevent him from becoming chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and exposing the programme.

Weldon’s key assertions include the claim that the administration played games with Mohamed Atta’s identity, referring to him as ‘Mohamed Elsa’ to obscure that Able Danger had identified him. He also claims that army intelligence officer Erik Kleinsmith was ordered to destroy 2.5 terabytes of Able Danger data to prevent it from coming to light. Crucially, Weldon alleges that the US knew where Osama bin Laden was when it invaded Afghanistan and actually helped hide him in the Balochistan region (overlapping Iran and Pakistan), while sending American soldiers to die searching for him. He specifically accuses Commission director Philip Zelikow of leading a “whitewash”.

It doesn’t matter much what Weldon is aiming to do with the new book. The point to note is that a former Congressman from the Republican circuit is making claims as an insider, which pits his version of the story against the familiar flat denial sans a winning logic.

Comparing Kennedy’s assassination with 9/11 terrorism throws up several points to ponder, keeping Israel in the crosshairs. In the 9/11 event, five Israelis were arrested after being reported for allegedly dancing with joy, according to Chinese news reports of the attack. The arrests happened but the joy was apparently not proved and the men were freed. The FBI found no foreknowledge of the terror event with the men. In Kennedy’s case, a widely shared belief that the Mossad killed him is backed by a clear motive — Kennedy’s documented push for inspecting Israel’s illegal Dimona nuclear facility. Declassified files showed the CIA redacted ‘Israel’ among other countries. As many would prefer to see it, the bristling scorn Israel reserves for JFK’s legacy is readily reflected in Donald Trump’s furious plans to shut down the Kennedy Centre over false claims that it was a financial drain. Conspiracy theory? Dampen your enthusiasm till we come to the Epstein files, whenever they become public, if ever.

The writer is Dawn’s correspondent in Delhi.

jawednaqvi@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, September 22nd, 2026

The forthcoming talks planned between Pakistani and US leadership on the margins of the UN General Assembly offer both sides a wondrous opportunity to re-envision bilateral ties in a broader spectrum of cooperation: more meaningful, multidimensional, and consistent.

Given the expanding scope of engagement between the two countries in recent times, there is now both an opportunity and a compelling rationale to orient the relationship toward a more forward-looking framework — one attuned to the new era in which fast-moving technological, economic and geopolitical shifts carry profound implications. This calls for a reinvigorated partnership, unbound by the exigencies of the moment and grounded instead in the enduring aspirations and interests of both nations.

Washington has long recognised that Pakistan matters in its own right, by virtue of its demography, diplomacy, geography, and strategic weight. Its location, at the confluence of South Asia, Central Asia, Middle East and the Arabian Sea, gives it intrinsic relevance to regional and global connectivity, trade and security.

A population exceeding 250 million makes it one of the world’s largest potential markets and a vast reservoir of human capital, while its geography offers a natural bridge to resource-rich economies of Central Asia, to say nothing of Pakistan’s own substantial, still under-explored resource endowments. Its diplomatic reach has been on full display this year as Islamabad worked to bring stability to the wider region, most notably through its widely noted mediatory role during the recent US-Iran-Israel conflict.

A historic relationship

These factors will shape the forward-looking cast of the discussions in New York. But history too will loom over the encounter as both sides survey the possibilities ahead. Pakistan and the United States have cooperated since 1947 at several defining moments in world affairs.

Pakistan was a key American ally during the Cold War and instrumental in facilitating the opening between Nixon’s Washington and Mao’s Beijing, arguably one of the most consequential turns in international affairs since World War II. Islamabad also bore enormous human and economic costs standing alongside the United States and the international community during the War on Terror.

These episodes point to something essential: the relationship has repeatedly served as a fulcrum for shaping the international system at moments of the greatest strain or change.

Yet two other threads run through this history: a lack of continuity and a narrowness of engagement.

A forward-looking relationship must reckon with the need for stable, sustained bilateral contact and a broader horizon of connectivity. The avenues for doing so are well known — strategic dialogue, parliamentary exchanges, economic consultations, business-to-business investment, greater multinational presence, educational and scientific partnerships, people-to-people ties and regular engagement between diplomatic, defence and commercial institutions. Such mechanisms have long existed; what has been missing is continuity at meaningful scale. Only through that consistency can a durable architecture emerge, one dynamic enough to evolve as circumstances change.

The path ahead

With continuity and breadth in mind, the most promising path to a sustainable partnership runs through economics. There is considerable room to expand trade, investment, technology and enterprise.

Pakistan’s mineral potential, including critical minerals, dovetails with America’s growing interest in resilient and diversified supply chains. But the real prize lies further downstream, in processing capacity, technology partnerships, industrial value chains, skills development and manufacturing within Pakistan itself.

Similar opportunities exist in information technology, artificial intelligence, agriculture, energy, advanced manufacturing, health and digital services. Pakistan’s young population and growing technology sector offer American companies an increasingly attractive platform for new markets, new talent and new production partnerships at a notably competitive cost.

Security cooperation remains an important pillar, but it too can take on a broader, more forward-looking character. Pakistan has paid an extraordinary human and economic price to terrorism and continues to face extremist threats in its neighbourhood.

Washington and Islamabad have reaffirmed their determination to cooperate against terrorist organisations and to strengthen border security and counterterrorism capacity. But the purpose of that cooperation, described by American military officials as a “phenomenal” partnership just last year — should be to help build a regional environment in which economic development, connectivity, and human security can flourish.

A stable Pakistan is not merely a domestic aspiration; it serves the regional and international interest, since stability strengthens the prospects for trade, connectivity, investment and moderation across a region of great strategic significance.

As the coming dialogue should underscore, the convergence between Pakistani and American interests runs wider than is sometimes acknowledged. Both countries benefit from a more peaceful South Asia, a more connected Central Asia, and a more integrated regional economy. And a broadening Pakistan- US relationship would help avert ‘Thucydides Trap’ playing out in South Asia.

Equally importantly, both countries have a stake in denying terrorism new space — particularly in view of the evolving situation in Afghanistan — and in expanding legitimate commerce and ensuring young populations are drawn toward opportunity rather than instability. Pakistan has repeatedly shown it can serve as a bridge between countries that do not easily communicate with one another — including most recently Iran and the United States. This could add another dimension to the bilateral cooperation framework.

The world is passing through a period of transition that demands new pillars of stability and new engines of growth. This is where Pakistan and the United States have the opportunity to write a new chapter — one that can surpass those that came before it, if built on a broad scope of engagement and genuine continuity. What is required now of both sides is an orientation toward enduring possibilities of the relationship: deep enough to withstand occasional differences of perspectives and ambitious enough to help build a more connected, prosperous and peaceful region.

Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar signed the agreement with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, he said in a post on X.

DPM Dar hoped the step would “further facilitate high-level engagement and institutional exchanges, and contribute to advancing our enduring and brotherly strategic partnership across all areas of mutual interest”.

The two countries share robust bilateral cooperation, with frequent high-level diplomatic exchanges on both sides.

On August 7, ​​​​​​​Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, alongside Turkiye, also signed a joint defence agreement pledging to strengthen collective security, deepen defence cooperation and promote peace and stability in the region and beyond.

Later that month, the two countries agreed to boost Pakistani agricultural and food exports to the Gulf state up to $3 billion. The agreement was reached during the visit of a Saudi delegation led by Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Engineer Abdulrahman Al-Fadley.

In July, Saudi Arabia had also launched a multiple-entry Umrah visa with one-year validity from the date of issuance, enabling pilgrims to enter the kingdom multiple times, with a cumulative stay of up to 90 days each year. In 2024, in another relief, Riyadh eased tourist visa requirements for Pakistani travellers, allowing them to submit a bank statement showing a minimum monthly credit amount of $750 or its equivalent.