Web Desk(National Times)- Former foreign minister and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari termed the US-Iran talks taking place in Islamabad on Saturday the \u201cbiggest achievement so far\u201d in efforts to end the Middle East war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He expressed these views during an interview with Al Jazeera<\/em>, during which he was asked how difficult it would be for Pakistan to get something \u201cconcrete\u201d out of the talks, which are taking place in the federal capital after Islamabad brokered a two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In his response, Bilawal said: \u201cThe fact that the talks are even happening is the biggest achievement thus far. It\u2019s significant that the ceasefire is in effect [and] the bombing has stopped in Iran and across most of the Middle East, and the two major [powers] are now negotiating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe hope that this ceasefire is built upon towards a more lasting and permanent resolution to this conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bilawal added that not only the people of Pakistan, but the people of the entire world were watching the talks with \u201ccautious optimism\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe bore witness over the course of the last six weeks or so the devastation of war; not only in terms of the human cost \u2026 but the economic cost, which has reverberated around the world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The interviewer also mentioned the Strait of Hormuz \u2014 which has turned out to be a pivotal point of contention in the US-Israeli war on Iran. In this context, it was pointed out to Bilawal that several countries would be interested in the talks\u2019 result, and he was asked how Pakistan could play a \u201cbalancing act\u201d between all involved sides \u2014 Iranians, Americans, Gulf countries and China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that, Bilawal replied that multiple countries had been involved in creating the diplomatic space necessary for the ceasefire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI would like to thank the leadership of Iran [and] the United States for agreeing to have this ceasefire and continue discussion, but then also the leadership, not only of Pakistan, but of China, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, Egypt, Qatar and many other GCC countries,\u201d Bilawal said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He noted that the war had affected the entire world, so \u201ceverybody has been making a joint and collective effort to try and create the necessary diplomatic space for this ceasefire to take place and for further discussions to now proceed\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cObviously, they\u2019re complex, they\u2019re challenging, but I think what we witnessed over the last six weeks is war is not an option,\u201d he said of the talks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis conflict has had significant consequences and will continue to have significant consequences if they don\u2019t manage to find a middle ground towards a more permanent peace,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Asked if alliances were being redrawn and about Pakistan\u2019s potential role going forward, Bilawal said that everyone was \u201cfocused firstly on the now\u201d and resolving the current conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis current conflict has obviously had the most impact on the Middle East, not only on Iran, but the way in which they have been attacked \u2026 various GCC countries, I\u2019m sure those issues need to be addressed. But that can only happen, I believe, if this ceasefire is permanent and we have a solution to this conflict,\u201d Bilawal explained.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Web Desk(National Times)- Former foreign minister and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari termed the US-Iran talks taking place in Islamabad on Saturday the \u201cbiggest achievement so far\u201d in efforts to end the Middle East war. He expressed these views during an interview with Al Jazeera, during which he was asked how difficult it would be for Pakistan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":124122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest_news","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n