Ishaq Dar Meets New Zealand’s Peters at ASEAN Forum in Manila

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar met New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum in Manila, with both sides reaffirming commitment to deepening bilateral cooperation across trade, investment, sports, and people-to-people exchanges. The two leaders also discussed strengthening institutional linkages and maintaining regular high-level engagement going forward.

Beyond the bilateral agenda, the meeting touched on regional and international developments, with Peters specifically praising Pakistan’s constructive role during recent US-Iran tensions and its efforts to promote dialogue, de-escalation, and regional peace. That acknowledgment adds to a growing list of international recognition Pakistan has received for its mediating role in the conflict, following similar praise noted in a recent Foreign Affairs analysis crediting Islamabad’s diplomatic engagement — centered on Field Marshal Asim Munir’s direct contacts with both Washington and Tehran — with helping produce an earlier, since-collapsed memorandum of understanding between the two countries.

New Zealand’s endorsement carries some diplomatic weight given Wellington’s traditionally cautious, multilateral approach to Middle East conflicts, and Peters’s specific mention suggests Pakistan’s mediating role has registered with foreign ministries beyond the immediate Gulf and South Asian context directly affected by the conflict.

The meeting occurred against the backdrop of an active and expanding US-Iran conflict entering its 12th consecutive night of US strikes, with Iran issuing escalating threats against regional infrastructure and countries hosting American forces, and Yemen’s Ansar Allah separately declaring a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia. Pakistan’s continued diplomatic outreach on the ASEAN sidelines — following similar high-level contacts with Qatar, Iran, and Saudi Arabia in recent days — reflects Islamabad’s sustained effort to maintain its position as an active diplomatic voice throughout the crisis, even as the mediated ceasefire it helped negotiate has broken down.

Pakistan-New Zealand relations have traditionally remained modest in scope compared to Islamabad’s engagement with larger trading partners, making this meeting notable primarily as an opportunity to expand institutional contact rather than signaling any major shift in bilateral ties. The reference to sports cooperation likely reflects the two countries’ shared cricketing relationship, a recurring area of engagement between Pakistan and New Zealand distinct from their more limited trade and investment ties.

The two leaders agreed to remain in close contact, a standard diplomatic commitment that leaves open the possibility of further engagement without specifying concrete next steps or agreements from this particular meeting.