Print Print edition: 2026-01-09

Gaza force mandate: Islamabad awaiting answers from Washington

Published January 9, 2026 Updated January 9, 2026 05:41am

3 min

By Sardar Sikander Shaheen

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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is awaiting answers from the United States regarding the mandate of the International Stabilisation Force in Gaza before making any decision in this regard.

This transpired during a press briefing from the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) Tahir Andrabi on Thursday.

“International Stabilisation Force’s mandate has yet to be finalised. If you recall Secretary Rubio, also referred to in his press briefing last month – he said that countries have asked certain questions.

We still await those answers with respect to those questions regarding the mandate of the International Stabilisation Force, and until that concrete package comes, we cannot offer any comment about it,” he said in response to a query with regard to the possibility of sending a peacekeeping force in Gaza.

To another query, the spokesperson said, the US President Donald Trump’s nomination by Pakistan for the Nobel Peace Prize “had a specific context in view of his very positive role.”

The Foreign Office spokesperson said Pakistan does not “wish to be hostile to Afghanistan.”

“Our demand to Afghanistan is very simple – it is not something that is against the basic responsibility of any nation. The terrorist elements and its own individual Afghan nationals should not be part of the terrorism in other countries—So, this is what our demand is.

And this demand will stand unless we get concrete, verifiable, written assurances from the Afghan side that their soil will not be used. If this terrorism issue is resolved by Afghanistan, we have tremendous potential of improving bilateral relations,” he said.

Regarding the 7th round of the Pakistan–China Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue, held in Beijing on 4 January, the spokesperson said, the Pakistan-China Joint Communiqué issued on the occasion is a comprehensive document, summing up the discussions on entire spectrum of Pakistan–China relations in wide-ranging areas, including strategic and political cooperation, as well as cooperation on defence and security, economy, trade, investment, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

The two sides agreed to further align their development plans and priorities, and build an upgraded version 2.0 of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is a pioneering project of Belt and Road Initiative, he said

Pakistan reaffirmed its firm commitment to the One-China principle, and reiterated that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory, Andrabi said.

Pakistan firmly supports every effort of China to achieve national reunification and on issues concerning Xinjiang, Xizang, Hong Kong and the South China Sea, he added.

The MOFA spokesperson said India has made consistent efforts to “silence the genuine leadership of the Kashmiri people and muzzle the media.”

The number of Kashmiri political prisoners is ever-rising, while 16 political outfits have been outlawed by Indian occupation authorities, Andrabi said.

The profiling and harassment of innocent Kashmiris, arbitrary detentions, and the so-called cordon and search operations have become a norm in the occupied territory, he added.

According to the spokesperson, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar telephonically spoke to his Saudi Arabian counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan twice this week.

He said Dar welcomed the Saudi Foreign Ministry’s statement regarding Yemen and appreciated the efforts of all sides to resolve the regional situation amicably.

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