The first meeting of newly constituted Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs was held in Islamabad on 9 July 2024.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar gave a detailed briefing to the Committee on contours of Pakistan’s foreign policy and its priorities.

He especially mentioned high-level engagement with regional partners and multilateral organizations including the United Nations, OIC, SCO, D8 and others.

Pakistan's current foreign policy is more economy-oriented than national security and international politics. During US's war against Afghanistan, Pakistan's relationship with the US was of forced freindship when the two nations functioned as allies without a genuine sense of camaraderie, enemies without deep-seated animosity, and partners without a foundation of trust. However, now Pakistan is no longer playing in the hands of Uncle Sam; it is no longer dying to become Ameraca's' more allied ally'. On the contrary, Pakistan is distancing itself from America in the latter's global conflicts, particularly in America's conflict with the emerging superpower, China. Pakistan is also not enthusiastically allied with the US in the latter's support for Ukraine in Russia-Ukraine war. Consequently, Pakistan is no longer being showered with appreciation by America. Rather, White House is often upbrading Pakistan for the latter's pursuit of its own national interests. The latest American punch aganist Pakistan's national interest was inflicted on 18th December, 2024 when America imposed sanctions on four Pakistani companies including National Defence Complex for their alleged involvement in developing Pakistan's ballistic missiles programme alleging Pakistan of contributing to the proliferation or delivery of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). In rebuttle, Pakistan dismissed these allegations and called the US decision to impose these sanctions to be biased and against Pakistan's national interests. Pakistan’s foreign ministry warned in a statement that the sanctions “have dangerous implications for strategic stability of our region and beyond.” It also accused the US of “double standards” for waiving licensing requirements for advanced military technology to other countries. 

On the other hand, Pakistan is growing its relationship with Russia despite Russia's invasion of Ukraine that is being backed by the US and European Union. The recent visits of Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk to Islamabad on 16 October, 2024 marked the continuation of growing Pakistan-Russia ties in recent times. This extraordinary regional development first drew global attention when Pakistan’s the then-Prime Minister Imran Khan visited Moscow on the eve of Russia’s Ukraine invasion in February 2022. The warming up of Pakistan-Russia ties indicates the changing geopolitical landscape of the region where Pakistan-India enemty has been shaping the regional politics for more than seven decades. (...to be completed)