By Shahnoor Saqib — SCN News
UNITED NATIONS — Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif used Pakistan’s address to the 81st United Nations General Assembly on Friday to make an unusually direct case for Islamabad as a diplomatic bridge in an increasingly fractured Middle East, saying Pakistan had succeeded in bringing the United States and Iran “under one roof” for negotiations while warning that the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab must not be allowed to become battlegrounds capable of choking the global economy.
The prime minister’s speech ranged across Iran, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Kashmir, India, terrorism, climate vulnerability and reform of the international system, but its strongest contemporary theme was Pakistan’s attempt to move from commenting on regional wars to helping mediate them. That argument comes at a critical moment: Iran has signalled that the Islamabad framework negotiated earlier in the conflict remains acceptable, while attacks around Saudi Arabia, Yemen and strategic maritime routes have widened the danger of another regional escalation.
Shehbaz said Pakistan’s diplomatic effort had created the conditions for American and Iranian representatives to meet in Islamabad after months of conflict. He credited Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and Field Marshal Asim Munir alongside the civilian government for helping create space for negotiations and argued that diplomacy must remain louder than the military confrontation surrounding it.
The claim has an important factual foundation beyond Friday’s speech. The United States and Iran announced a preliminary memorandum in June following mediation involving Pakistan, establishing a framework intended to move the conflict toward a negotiated settlement. That process later stalled as hostilities continued, but Tehran has now publicly indicated that it has not abandoned the framework.
That made Shehbaz’s UN intervention more than a retrospective claim of diplomatic success. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told him during their New York meeting on Thursday that the Islamabad memorandum remained “fully acceptable” to Tehran and that Iran was prepared to take it forward. Pakistan’s official account of that meeting said Shehbaz pressed for restraint, de-escalation and implementation of the Islamabad understanding.
Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab at the Centre of Pakistan’s Warning
Shehbaz connected the diplomacy directly to two waterways whose disruption could turn a regional conflict into a global economic crisis.
“The Strait of Hormuz and Bab-el-Mandab are arteries of the global economy. They must remain open, connecting nations, not becoming choke points of confrontation.”
The prime minister said that amid missiles, drones and gunfire, the argument for diplomacy needed to become stronger, not weaker. His decision to place Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab prominently in the speech reflected Pakistan’s concern that the wars involving Iran and Yemen are converging around two of the world’s most important maritime corridors.
The timing was particularly significant because Tehran is now discussing terms under which unrestricted passage through Hormuz could resume, while Houthi attacks and military movements around Yemen have intensified pressure on Bab al-Mandab. Pakistan has separately told the Security Council that attempts to obstruct or weaponise such waterways threaten commercial shipping, energy security and global supply chains.
Shehbaz’s argument therefore positioned freedom of navigation not merely as a Gulf security issue but as an international economic interest. Pakistan is especially exposed to energy-price shocks and shipping disruption, giving Islamabad a direct economic stake in preventing the two waterways from becoming leverage in prolonged regional warfare.
Haramain Is a ‘Red Line’
Shehbaz delivered one of his strongest messages when he turned to the attempted attack targeting Makkah, declaring the sanctity and security of the Haramain Sharifain a “red line” for Muslims and reiterating Pakistan’s solidarity with Saudi Arabia.
The language followed escalating Houthi missile and drone attacks against the kingdom and came as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye deepen coordination under their new defence arrangement. The crisis has already triggered urgent consultations over Saudi security and the protection of critical infrastructure.
Shehbaz nevertheless presented the arrangement as defensive rather than directed against a particular state. He said the Makkah Agreement was not aimed at any specific country and framed it as an instrument for collective security and regional peace. That distinction is important because Islamabad is simultaneously strengthening its security commitment to Riyadh and mediating between Washington and Tehran.
The two policies could otherwise pull Pakistan in opposite directions. Islamabad has declared strong support for Saudi Arabia’s defence while maintaining close relations with Iran and attempting to help Tehran negotiate with Washington. Shehbaz’s UN speech sought to reconcile those positions by drawing a line between defending Saudi territory and holy sites on one hand and advocating wider regional de-escalation on the other.
Pakistan-India Conflict Returns to the UN Podium
Shehbaz then turned sharply toward India, revisiting the recent military confrontation between the nuclear-armed neighbours and defending Pakistan’s response as an exercise of the right to self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter.
He accused India of initiating hostilities on what Pakistan regarded as a false pretext and argued that Islamabad had demonstrated both its ability to defend itself and its preference for avoiding a prolonged conflict.
The prime minister also credited Trump’s intervention with helping prevent further escalation between the two nuclear powers, arguing that diplomacy had prevented a confrontation with potentially catastrophic consequences.
The India section served a broader purpose in the speech. Shehbaz was presenting Pakistan’s recent experiences with both India and Iran as evidence for the same central proposition: wars can escalate rapidly, but political intervention can create an exit before confrontation becomes uncontrollable.
Kashmir: Shehbaz Returns to the UN Plebiscite Demand
On Kashmir, Shehbaz returned to Pakistan’s longstanding position that durable peace in South Asia cannot be achieved without resolving the dispute.
He called for Kashmiris to be allowed to exercise their right to self-determination through a plebiscite under the relevant United Nations framework. He also accused India of collective punishment and efforts to alter the demographic character of the disputed territory.
India rejects Pakistan’s position and regards Jammu and Kashmir as an integral part of India. Pakistan disputes that claim and points to longstanding UN Security Council resolutions concerning the territory. The competing positions remain fundamentally unresolved.
The Foreign Office had signalled before UNGA81 that Kashmir would remain one of Pakistan’s central issues at the session, alongside Palestine. Islamabad says it has also used its current Security Council membership to keep the dispute on the international agenda.
Indus Waters Treaty Becomes a Security Issue
Shehbaz also elevated the dispute over the Indus Waters Treaty, challenging India’s attempt to suspend its treaty obligations and arguing that New Delhi cannot unilaterally extinguish a binding international agreement.
That issue is increasingly intertwined with the wider deterioration in Pakistan-India relations. Islamabad regards access to the Indus river system as a core national interest because of its importance to agriculture, drinking water and the wider economy.
By raising the treaty from the General Assembly podium alongside Kashmir and the recent military confrontation, Shehbaz effectively placed water security inside Pakistan’s broader argument about rules-based international relations.
Palestine Remains a Core Pakistani Position
The prime minister reaffirmed Pakistan’s support for Palestinian self-determination and statehood, maintaining a position Islamabad had repeatedly advanced during UNGA81.
Pakistan supports an independent Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital and argues that a political settlement must be grounded in relevant UN resolutions.
The issue has acquired additional prominence at this year’s General Assembly after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addressed delegates remotely following the U.S. decision to deny him a visa, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech prompted a walkout by dozens of delegates.
For Pakistan, Palestine and Kashmir were presented as examples of a broader problem: international rules and UN resolutions lose credibility when implementation varies according to the political power of the states involved.
Terrorism and the Afghanistan Problem
Shehbaz also placed terrorism among Pakistan’s major security challenges, reinforcing Islamabad’s increasingly direct complaints about militant violence originating from Afghan territory.
Pakistan has told Kabul that reopening borders, restoring transit trade and expanding regional connectivity depend on verifiable action against groups operating against Pakistan. The Foreign Office says Pakistan has attempted to resolve the issue through direct diplomacy and through partners including China, Qatar and Türkiye.
The government’s argument is that Pakistan wants a stable and economically connected Afghanistan but cannot separate economic normalisation from its security concerns.
Shehbaz raised the issue directly with UN Secretary-General António Guterres before his General Assembly appearance. Pakistan’s official account said the two discussed the “drastic increase in terrorism emanating from Afghan soil,” while Shehbaz also raised Islamophobia, Palestine and regional instability.
Climate, Development and the Global South
The speech also returned to Pakistan’s longstanding argument that developing countries face crises they contributed relatively little to creating.
Islamabad had entered UNGA81 planning to highlight sustainable development, climate change, global economic challenges and problems confronting the Global South alongside the immediate security crises.
For Pakistan, the connection between security and development is increasingly direct. Higher energy costs caused by Middle East instability can worsen external financing pressures; climate disasters require enormous reconstruction spending; and debt burdens reduce the fiscal space available for development.
That economic dimension explains why Shehbaz repeatedly connected peace to prosperity rather than treating diplomacy solely as a security objective.
The Deeper Message: Pakistan Wants a Seat at the Diplomatic Table
The most consequential element of Shehbaz’s address was therefore not any single declaration on Kashmir, Palestine or India. Those positions are longstanding features of Pakistani diplomacy.
The newer element was the effort to present Pakistan itself as part of the machinery for resolving conflicts.
Islamabad entered UNGA81 with something tangible to point toward: it had helped establish a negotiating framework between Iran and the United States, and Iran has now told Pakistan that the framework remains acceptable. Shehbaz used the General Assembly podium to turn that episode into a broader foreign-policy argument.
That argument is strengthened by geography. Pakistan borders Iran, maintains a strategic relationship with Saudi Arabia, has longstanding ties with Türkiye and the Gulf states, communicates with Washington and Beijing, and is directly exposed to instability affecting Hormuz, Afghanistan and the Arabian Sea.
But that position also creates difficult balancing acts.
Pakistan wants to mediate with Iran while pledging strong security support to Saudi Arabia. It wants close relations with Washington while maintaining its strategic partnership with China. It wants negotiations with India while challenging New Delhi over Kashmir and water. And it wants economic integration with Afghanistan while demanding action against militant groups based there.
Shehbaz’s UNGA81 address attempted to make those apparent contradictions the basis of Pakistan’s diplomatic relevance rather than a weakness: Islamabad can speak to competing sides precisely because it maintains relationships across the divides.
The immediate test will come in the Middle East.
Iran has told Pakistan that the Islamabad framework remains viable. Washington continues to signal that an agreement with Tehran is possible, even as Trump has threatened dramatically greater military action if diplomacy fails. Saudi Arabia is simultaneously confronting escalating Houthi attacks, and pressure on Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab continues to threaten international shipping.
Shehbaz therefore left the General Assembly with a message that was broader than Pakistan’s traditional catalogue of foreign-policy positions.
Pakistan wants the world to see it not simply as a country affected by regional crises, but as a state capable of helping manage them.
His strongest formulation tied that ambition directly to the danger now facing the Middle East: Pakistan says it has already brought Washington and Tehran “under one roof”; its next challenge is demonstrating that the diplomatic opening can produce an agreement before Hormuz, Bab al-Mandab and the widening Saudi-Houthi confrontation push the region deeper into war.