Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif began his two-day visit to Austria on Monday, during which he will hold bilateral meetings and delegation-level talks, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said. The premier arrived in Vienna for the two-day visit on Sunday, at the invitation of Austria’s Federal Chancellor Christian Stocker. As per a PMO statement, PM Shehbaz arrived at the Austrian Chancellery today, where he was presented with a guard of honour and welcomed by Stocker. The statement said that the national anthems of both countries were played at the arrival, and both leaders “introduced their respective delegations to each other before proceeding for tête-à-tête and the delegation-level talks, wherein both sides will take stock of the entire gamut of bilateral relations”. PM Shehbaz also penned his remarks in the guest book at the Chancellery. The premier is accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar and one of his aides, Tariq Fatemi, during the two-day visit. This visit marks 70 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. In its statement issued on Sunday, the Foreign Office (FO) noted that the trip marked “the first visit by a Pakistani prime minister to Austria in over three decades, the last having been undertaken by the then-prime minister Nawaz Sharif in 1992”.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday will depart on a two-day official visit to Doha, where he will meet the Qatari emir, the Foreign Office (FO) said. The visit is being undertaken at the invitation of Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the FO said in a press release. During his visit, PM Shehbaz will hold a bilateral meeting with Sheikh Tamim, “covering the entire spectrum of bilateral relations, including political engagement, economic collaboration, energy partnership, and p...

Pakistan on Monday strongly condemned Israel’s latest move to register large areas of the occupied West Bank as “state property”, calling on the international community to reject its actions, according to a statement by the Foreign Office (FO). Al Jazeera reported on Sunday that the Israeli government had approved the proposal to claim large areas of the occupied territory as property of the state if Palestinians could not prove ownership, a move which prompted outcry from Palestinian group Hamas, the Palestinian presidency, and political analysts. “Pakistan strongly condemns the latest attempt by the Israeli occupying power to convert areas of the Occupied West Bank into so-called state property, and to expand illegal settlement activities,” the statement said. It pointed out that these steps clearly violated international law and relevant United Nations Security Council and General Assembly resolutions, stressing that they “must be rejected” by the international community. “The occupying power’s continued disregard for international law and its provocative actions undermine the prospects for a just, comprehensive, and lasting peace in the region,” it added. “Pakistan calls on the international community to take concrete measures to end Israeli impunity, and ensure respect for international law,” the statement said. It once again reaffirmed full support for the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and for the establishment of an “independent, viable, and contiguous State of Palestine, based on pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital”. Most Palestinian land is not formally registered because it is a long, complicated process that Israel stopped in 1967. Regis­tra­tion of land establishes permanent ownership. International law states an occupying power cannot confiscate land in occupied territories. Palestinian group Hamas had condemned the decision on Sunday, calling it an attempt “to steal and Judaise lands in the occupied West Bank by registering them as so-called ‘state lands’”. However, Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz described the move as an “essential security and governance measure designed to ensure control, enforcement, and full freedom of action for the state of Israel in the area”, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar will visit New York on February 18 to participate in a high-level United Nations Security Council (UNSC) briefing on the situation in Palestine, the Foreign Office (FO) said on Tuesday. In a statement, the FO said that the meeting will be chaired by the United Kingdom’s foreign secretary as president of the UNSC. The statement said that during the briefing, Dar will reaffirm Pakistan’s “principled and consistent position on Palestine”. “He will reiterate Pakistan’s strong opposition of Israel’s recent illegal decisions to expand its control over the West Bank, emphasise the need for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, full implementation of Security Council resolution 2803, scaled-up humanitarian assistance, and the early commencement of Gaza’s recovery and reconstruction,” the statement said. “The deputy prime minister will also underscore Pakistan’s continued engagement with international and regional partners, including the group of eight Arab and Islamic countries and the United States, in support of a just and lasting peace, anchored in international law, leading to the realisation of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent, sovereign and contiguous Palestinian State based on pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital,” the statement added. Separately, on the margins of the visit, Dar will hold bilateral meetings with counterparts to discuss matters of mutual interest, it concluded. The development comes as the foreign ministers of eight Muslim nations, including Pakistan, condemned the Israeli move to claim land in the occupied West Bank as “state property”. It should be mentioned that the same eight countries had worked with US President Donald Trump’s administration on a plan last year on a plan to end Israel’s genocide and invasion in Gaza. On Monday, Pakistan had released a separate statement condemning the Israeli move, calling on the international community to reject its actions.

Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal is set to attend the oath-taking ceremony of Bangladesh’s Prime Minister-elect Tarique Rahman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), who won a landslide victory in last week’s elections, the Foreign Office (FO) said on Monday. The election was the first since a deadly 2024 uprising ousted the iron-fisted rule of Sheikh Hasina. Rahman is a scion of one of Bangladesh’s most powerful political dynasties. In a statement issued today, the FO said that Iqbal will represent Pakistan at the oath-taking ceremony, scheduled to be held on February 17 in Dhaka. More to follow