A senior adviser to President Trump used a meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum to publicly praise Pakistan’s role in mediation, regional stability and ongoing peace efforts.
The second phase of the Pakistan–Bangladesh Knowledge Corridor is set to launch soon, with Islamabad offering 500 scholarships at leading universities in a move that highlights growing educational and diplomatic ties between the two countries.
China has selected Muhammad Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud for astronaut training linked to a future Tiangong mission, with one expected to become the first foreign astronaut to enter the Chinese space station after completing evaluations in China.
Fly Jinnah is set to begin double daily flights between Lahore and Islamabad from May 1, expanding domestic air connectivity on one of Pakistan’s busiest corridors. The new service, priced at around PKR 10,000 each way, is aimed at business travellers, professionals and commuters looking for a faster alternative to road travel.
As a fragile cease-fire holds, President Trump has signalled that a new round of U.S.-Iran talks could take place within days. In Islamabad, where security has tightened and diplomats are working back channels, Pakistan is trying to turn a brief pause in fighting into a second chance for negotiations.
Donald Trump says he extended the ceasefire with Iran after requests from Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, thrusting Islamabad into the centre of a rapidly narrowing diplomatic window between Washington and Tehran.
Pakistan has condemned the entry of Israeli settlers into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and the raising of Israeli flags inside its courtyard, calling the act a violation of international law and warning that such provocations could further inflame regional tensions.
Azerbaijan’s state energy company says it is prepared to supply LNG to Pakistan as soon as Islamabad makes a formal request, offering a possible new source of fuel as Pakistan faces declining domestic gas production and renewed pressure on energy imports.
The New York Post’s Caitlin Doornbos told The Thursday Times that meeting Pakistanis was “the added sugar on top” of covering the US-Iran talks, but said no reporter could predict where they would lead.
On the 88th death anniversary of Allama Iqbal, it is worth asking not only what he meant to the making of Pakistan, but what his ideas demand of the country now. As Islamabad tries to keep open channels between Iran and the United States, Iqbal’s poetry feels less like memory and more like instruction.
