Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar arrived in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Monday to attend the 12th session of the Pakistan-UAE Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) in Abu Dhabi. This high-level meeting is being held after a gap of over 12 years. Originally scheduled for October 2024, the last JMC session took place in Islamabad in November 2013.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dar will lead the Pakistani delegation at the meeting scheduled for June 24. The JMC serves as the highest institutional platform for advancing bilateral cooperation between Pakistan and the UAE. This session aims to boost strategic, economic, and developmental collaboration between the two countries.
The Pakistani delegation includes top officials and secretaries from key ministries such as Economic Affairs, Commerce, Energy, Maritime Affairs, and Interior. On the UAE side, the delegation will be headed by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, along with senior representatives from relevant Emirati institutions.
During the meeting, both sides will review progress in multiple sectors and explore new opportunities in trade, investment, energy, infrastructure development, and information technology. Several legal agreements are also expected to be signed to formalize sector-specific cooperation.
The Foreign Office emphasized that this session offers a valuable opportunity to align both nations’ economic priorities and expand the scope of mutual partnership. The UAE is Pakistan’s third-largest trading partner after China and the United States, and the second-largest source of remittances after Saudi Arabia, with over one million Pakistanis currently residing in the Emirates.