Sharif’s Regional Tour Shakes Up Pakistan’s Foreign Policy Playbook
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has wrapped up a whirlwind diplomatic tour of Iran, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Tajikistan—four countries with very different stakes in the region but one shared audience: the rest of the world. In his dispatch for The Media Line, reporter Arshad Mehmood takes us inside the political choreography of a trip that could reshape Pakistan’s alliances and test its balancing act between old friends and new risks.
Sharif didn’t travel alone. With Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar by his side, the message was clear: this was no ordinary meet-and-greet. From Istanbul to Tehran, Sharif talked trade, defense, and energy—but it was his very public embrace of Iran’s “right” to peaceful nuclear energy that raised eyebrows, especially in Washington and Riyadh.
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In Tehran, Sharif met with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian, offering public support for Iran’s nuclear ambitions while pushing for economic and security cooperation. Strategic affairs experts told The Media Line the move may have made China smile, but could complicate ties with the US, Gulf states, and even India.
“The Iran card is a risky one,” said analyst Syed Khalid Muhammed. And with Tehran’s ties to Indian intelligence and past support for insurgent groups, skepticism in Islamabad isn’t going away anytime soon.
But as Arshad Mehmood reports, Sharif’s bet is that a confident, assertive Pakistan—anchored in trilateral ties with Turkey and Azerbaijan—can chart its own course in a crowded and competitive region.
For the full breakdown of Sharif’s diplomatic tightrope walk, read Arshad Mehmood’s full report.
