It is the kind of week Islamabad has not seen in years: a week when Pakistan seemed to matter again.
At the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif placed himself at the centre of Gaza diplomacy, aligning Pakistan with a broad coalition that demanded ceasefires and humanitarian corridors as a moral imperative, not a diplomatic option. At the same gathering, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan did what few dare. He spoke of Kashmir. In a hall that often rewards silence, Erdogan’s words cut through, reminding the world that occupation and disenfranchisement cannot be airbrushed away.
The Foreign Office deserves credit for re-inserting Pakistan into conversations that had long moved on.
Add to this the newly inked Saudi-Pakistan defence pact, with whispers of an “Islamic NATO,” and suddenly Islamabad was no longer a footnote but part of the story. That the President of Iran welcomed the agreement must have been a great shock to those still trying to drive wedges between Iran and Pakistan. Even the optics of a Sharif-Trump exchange, however brief, were enough to freshen the stale air of Washington-Islamabad relations. The bilateral meeting scheduled for today may or may not yield breakthroughs, but hopes are already riding high on the Trump administration surely recognising Pakistan’s utility in the Middle East, a likely motivation for increased engagement.
For a country used to being ignored or lectured, this was no small moment. The Foreign Office deserves credit for re-inserting Pakistan into conversations that had long moved on. Riyadh’s nod is no ordinary headline, for it represents recognition of Pakistan’s military credibility and a recalibration of Gulf security away from exclusive reliance on Washington. Erdogan’s words may not change India’s calculus in Kashmir, but they punctured the silence that New Delhi tries to enforce. And on Gaza, Islamabad’s alignment with a broad coalition–stretching from Arab capitals to European humanitarians–showed that Pakistan can be a bridge rather than a bystander.
But and still, applause in New York does not fill a kitchen in Lahore. Even as Sharif rubbed shoulders with world leaders, Islamabad’s economic team was busy drafting talking points for yet another IMF review. The cycle has become so predictable that it barely makes news. What is lost in these spreadsheets is the lived reality of how electricity bills arrive like punishments, and households are quietly cutting back to one meal a day.
Opposition has been quick in its criticism, emphasising how diplomacy abroad cannot substitute for dignity at home. The common man listens to the stories of billions pledged in aid or defence pacts and wonders why a small shop in Karachi must shut because power tariffs have eaten every rupee of profit.
It would be unfair to suggest Islamabad is oblivious. The government has tried. It is still trying. Sharif’s call at a meeting held on the sidelines of the UN summit to fold climate disaster into IMF calculations was timely and necessary. If global warming is not Pakistan’s doing, why should its victims shoulder the debt alone? On this, the government deserves appreciation.
Yet no amount of relief measures can disguise the deeper malaise. For decades, reform in Pakistan has meant squeezing the salaried class while leaving cartels, smugglers, and power-sector parasites untouched. Every bailout is marketed as a turning point, but each turns into another cycle of delay and deflection. The World Bank’s latest assessment is blunt: poverty reduction has not just stalled, it has reversed. Nearly 40 per cent of Pakistanis are now believed to be living below the poverty line. For them, the promise of external financing frameworks or new defence alignments is too distant to taste.
This is why civil society insists on a dual test. By all means, let foreign policy reassert Pakistan on the global stage. Celebrate Riyadh’s pact and explore even the symbolic gains of Trump’s attention. But pair these victories with tangible domestic relief. Because foreign applause quickly fades if citizens feel abandoned in their own homes.
There is also a strategic point. Diplomatic strength abroad is inseparable from economic stability at home. A state seen as perpetually at the mercy of lenders cannot project lasting influence. Allies can offer pacts and platforms, but only a functioning economy can turn them into sustainable leverage. Pakistan’s long-term relevance will be judged less by the handshakes in New York and more by whether its people can afford food, electricity, and schooling.
The writer is OpEd Editor (Daily Times) and can be reached at durenayab786 @gmail.com. She tweets @DureAkram.