Pakistan made headlines worldwide after Islamabad brokered a US-Iran ceasefire just hours before Donald Trump’s “hell” warning was set to expire.
The international community breathed a sigh of relief on late Tuesday night after US President Trump announced that he had agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran after discussions with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Field Marshal Asim Munir.
During the last-ditch effort, PM Shehbaz urged Trump to extend his deadline for two weeks to give diplomacy a chance, which was ultimately accepted by the US president.
Trump’s announcement represented an abrupt turnaround from earlier in the day, when he issued an extraordinary warning that “a whole civilisation will die tonight” if his demands were not met. The US president had set an 8pm ET deadline for April 8.
Taking to his X handle, PM Shehbaz said that Islamabad would host delegations from the United States and Iran on Friday to end the Middle East crisis.
“I… extend deepest gratitude to the leadership of both countries and invite their delegations to Islamabad on Friday, 10th April 2026, to further negotiate for a conclusive agreement to settle all disputes,” he said in a post on X.
Here’s how international media hail Pakistan’s efforts to avert another catastrophe in the region:
Bloomberg
In its report, US-based Bloomberg noted: “Pakistan nevertheless deserves a tremendous amount of credit for having the guts to stick out its neck and offer its diplomatic services.”
“Pakistan’s success as a mediator in the Iran conflict stems in large part from its increasingly close ties with the Trump administration,” it noted,
The report says that Islamabad, at the same time, also has “warm ties” with Iran and other Gulf states which motivated Islamabad to “find a resolution to the fighting to avoid being dragged into the conflict itself”.
“Besides enhancing its geopolitical clout, Pakistan also has economic reasons to get involved. Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has jammed up energy supplies globally, leaving Pakistan vulnerable given its sizeable imports of oil and liquefied natural gas that pass through the waterway.
“What stands out is Pakistan’s repositioning from a peripheral actor to a credible intermediary capable of convening adversaries,” it added.
The Independent
UK’s Independent said that Pakistan’s role in pulling the Gulf back from the brink “could mark one of its most significant diplomatic achievements in years, and it is one that has been welcomed throughout the region”.
“Pakistan’s involvement was at least partly driven by self-interest. The South Asian nation is heavily dependent on energy imports and has faced severe fuel shortages due to the war, as well as disruptions to remittances from its sizeable population working in the Middle East,” said the British media outlet in its analysis.
“Even so, the optics of the ceasefire are significant for Pakistan on the world stage,” it said.
CNN
Lauding Islamabad’s peace efforts, US-based TV network CNN said: “It will be up to Pakistan, which brokered an agreement for the US and Iran to hold talks starting Friday, to clear this up — if the deal lasts that long.”
“The Islamabad government, which has shrewdly used its friendships in Tehran and Washington, must fashion off-ramps neither Trump nor Iran could find themselves,” Stephen Collinson of the CNN wrote in his analysis of the latest developments.
France 24
French news outlet France 24 noted neutrality makes “economic sense” for Pakistan.
The country relies on oil and gas imports through the Strait of Hormuz and “wants to avoid getting dragged into further conflict on its doorstep”, it added.
“A permanent end to the war would not only boost regional stability but also Pakistan’s international standing at a time when it is locked in armed conflict with neighbouring Afghanistan and less than a year after it traded strikes with archrival India,” the media outlet wrote.
Gulf News
Apprising Pakistan’s peace efforts, Gulf News noted that Islamabad’s ties with both Washington and Tehran leveraged the country a “unique position” to open lines of communication that otherwise remained shut.
“The strategy was deliberate: stay publicly neutral, but privately engage all sides. Pakistan’s role representing Iranian interests in Washington gave it rare institutional access, while its long-standing ties with the US ensured credibility with American leadership.”
It added that while challenges still remain, for now, “the ceasefire marks a significant diplomatic win for Islamabad, underscoring how sustained, quiet engagement can influence the trajectory of a fast-moving and high-stakes conflict, even as the human and economic costs of the war continue to mount”.
Thumbnail image shows Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (left), US President Donald Trump, and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Field Marshal Asim Munir posing for a photo. — APP/File
