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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar will demand full implementation of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Palestinian territories as he undertakes a visit to Istanbul today, Monday, for the Coordination Meeting of Arab-Islamic Foreign Ministers, state media said. 

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Friday that the foreign ministers of some Muslim countries will meet in Istanbul on Monday to discuss the Gaza ceasefire and next steps in the territory. Fidan said the gathering would include foreign ministers of countries represented at a meeting with US President Donald Trump in New York in September to discuss the Gaza ceasefire. 

The meeting takes place amid renewed tensions in Gaza and concerns over whether the fragile ceasefire would persist. Palestinian health authorities say Israeli forces have killed 236 people in strikes on Gaza since the truce, which came into effect Oct. 10, nearly half of them in a single day last week when Israel retaliated for an attack on its troops. Israel says three of its soldiers have been killed and it has targeted scores of Hamas fighters.

“Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar will undertake a one-day visit to Istanbul today to attend the Coordination Meeting of Arab-Islamic Foreign Ministers,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported. 

“During the Istanbul meeting, Pakistan will emphasize the need for the full implementation of the ceasefire agreement, the complete Israeli withdrawal from the Occupied Palestinian Territory, especially Gaza, as well as the provision of unfettered humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians and the reconstruction of Gaza,” the statement added. 

The state media said Dar will also reiterate the need for collective efforts aimed at achieving “an independent, viable, and contiguous State of Palestine with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital” based on pre-1967 borders. 

“Pakistan has been, and will continue to be, committed to efforts to restore peace, justice, and dignity to the Palestinian people, as well as to ensure the realization of their right to self-determination,” it added. 

The US-backed ceasefire agreement halted two years of war in which Israel killed over 67,000 Palestinians, a lot of them women and children, since October 2023. Israel’s military operations in the narrow coastal strip have devastated it almost entirely, frequently targeting schools, hospitals and other civilian spaces in Gaza. 

BEIJING: The Pakistan Navy expects its first Chinese-designed submarine to enter active service next year, the country’s top admiral told Chinese state media, bolstering Beijing’s bid to counter regional rival India and project power toward the Middle East.

A deal under which Islamabad will take delivery of eight Hangor-class submarines by 2028 is “progressing smoothly,” Admiral Naveed Ashraf told the Global Times in an interview published on Sunday, adding the submarines would boost Pakistan’s ability to patrol the North Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean.

The update on the Chinese submarine deal follows Pakistan’s air force using Chinese-made J-10 fighter jets in May to shoot down an Indian Air Force Rafale aircraft, made by France.

The altercation between the nuclear-armed neighbors surprised many in the military community and raised questions over the superiority of Western hardware over Chinese alternatives.

Under the terms of the submarine agreement — reportedly worth up to $5 billion — the first four diesel-electric attack submarines will be built in China, with the remaining vessels assembled in Pakistan to improve the South Asian nation’s technical capabilities.

Pakistan has already launched three of the submarines into China’s Yangtze River from a shipyard in the central province of Hubei.

“Chinese-origin platforms and equipment have been reliable, technologically advanced and well-suited to Pakistan Navy’s operational requirements,” Ashraf told the tabloid, which is published by the ruling Communist Party’s People’s Daily.

“As modern warfare evolves, emerging technologies such as unmanned systems, AI and advanced electronic warfare systems are becoming increasingly important. The Pakistan Navy is focusing on these technologies and exploring collaboration with China,” Ashraf was also quoted as saying.

Islamabad has long been Beijing’s top arms customer, and over the 2020-2024 period bought over 60 percent of China’s weapons exports, data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute shows.

BILLION-DOLLAR BUILD UP

Along with billions in arms sales, Beijing has heavily invested in building out its connections to the Arabian Sea through a 3,000 km (1864.11 miles) economic corridor stretching from China’s Xinjiang to Pakistan’s deep-water port of Gwadar.

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, part of President Xi Jinping’s flagship ‘Belt and Road’ infrastructure initiative, aims to secure a route for the world’s largest energy importer to bring in supplies from the Middle East, bypassing the Straits of Malacca — a strategic chokepoint between Malaysia and Indonesia that could be blocked in wartime.

The initiative also extends China’s sphere of influence toward Afghanistan and Iran and onto Central Asia, and effectively encircles India, given Beijing’s ties to the junta in Myanmar and good relations with Bangladesh.

India currently operates three indigenously developed nuclear-powered submarines, along with three classes of diesel-electric attack submarines acquired or developed over decades with France, Germany, and Russia.

“This cooperation (with China) goes beyond hardware; it reflects a shared strategic outlook, mutual trust, and a long-standing partnership,” Ashraf said.

“In the coming decade, we expect this relationship to grow, encompassing not only shipbuilding and training, but also enhanced interoperability, research, technology sharing and industrial collaboration.”