NEW YORK: Pakistan has broken its diplomatic isolation through active diplomacy, with the country’s economy now set to take off as a result of the hard work done by Prime MInister Shehbaz Sharif’s government, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Senator, Ishaq Dar told members of the Pakistani community.
“We are no longer isolated,” he said at his 2-hour interaction with the Pakistani diaspora at the Pakistan consulate in New York.
Pakistan now has many friends in the international community, organized two major international events recently — the SCO Summit and the Conference on Girls’ Education in Muslim Communities, with several heads of state visiting the country — Turkish President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan being the most recent to express solidarity with the country, Senator Dar added.
He also highlighted Pakistan’s election to the UN Security Council, the world body’s power center, with a thumping majority of 182 votes for a two-year term —2025-26.
In his detailed remarks, DPM/FM said Senator Dar referred to Pakistan’s ups and downs, pointing out its strong economic position under the leadership of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif between 2013-17, the decline following it that brought the country to the verge of a default and the turn around led by the present government.
On the economic front, he said that the inflation rate had been reduced from 40 per cent to as low as 2.4 per cent in January 2025, leading to a decline in the policy rate. Remittances have showed an increase and the exports have risen leading to stability.
The situation would be further consolidated if all the political parties joined hands — without any conditions — keeping the interests of Pakistan above everything else.
Pakistan must come first, he added.
He urged Pakistani-American to increase their remittances and invest in projects in their homeland. In this connection, he told them to contact the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), a facility to act as a “single window” to help investors, establish cooperation among all Government departments, and fast-track project development.
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Referring to the surge in acts of terrorism in Pakistan, the DPM/FM said the menace had almost been eliminated from the country in 2018, however, due to faulty policies of the previous government.
