ANTALYA (The Thursday Times) — Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the COP31 climate summit in Antalya on Wednesday to discuss relations between the two countries and the situation in the region, his office said.
The meeting would focus on bilateral relations and cooperation between Pakistan and Iran, as well as “the regional situation as well as matters concerning peace and stability in the region”, the Prime Minister’s Office said. Pakistan has acted as a mediator between the United States and Iran and has urged all sides to settle the conflict through dialogue.
A string of meetings
The prime minister also met Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, World Bank President Ajay Banga, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, the Secretary-General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and Emine Erdogan, wife of the Turkish president, his office said.
In his meeting with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, Shehbaz expressed Pakistan’s full solidarity with the Palestinian people on behalf of the government and people of Pakistan.
“During these meetings, which took place in a cordial atmosphere, the Prime Minister and the world leaders discussed the strengthening of bilateral relations and the regional situation,” his office said.
Shehbaz was received at the summit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and UN Secretary-General António Guterres, and is pressing for climate finance for vulnerable countries that is “predictable, adequate and accessible”. Pezeshkian and al-Sharaa were among the leaders who joined the summit on Wednesday.
