Daily Times Editorials 14th August 2026

Pakistan at 79

Pakistan turns 79 with more than a few hard-won gains to its name. Since the flags last went up, the country has converted its dangerous confrontation with India into a demonstration of military preparedness and restraint; deepened its strategic compact with Saudi Arabia; helped place Islamabad at the centre of the US-Iran diplomatic process and, only days ago, joined Saudi Arabia and Türkiye in the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement. For a state that spent much of the preceding decade being discussed through default risk, terrorism and political fragility, the change in tone is difficult to miss.

Marka-e-Haq mattered because Pakistan emerged with its deterrent credibility intact and its diplomatic room enlarged. The Saudi Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement subsequently formalised a relationship built over decades, while the newer trilateral pact with Riyadh and Ankara extends that architecture into joint exercises, air defence, unmanned systems and defence-industrial cooperation. The Islamabad understanding between Washington and Tehran, even if battered by renewed hostilities, remains an achievement in its own right. The economic ledger has considerably improved as well. Growth reached 3.7 per cent in FY26, large-scale manufacturing returned to expansion and foreign-exchange reserves recovered from the danger zone. The IMF’s latest review released another $1.32 billion under the EFF and RSF, taking combined programme disbursements to around $4.8 billion. Three years after Pakistan was staring uncomfortably close at the abyss, that recovery deserves recognition. Breathing space has returned, though prosperity remains farther down the road.Pakistan regional tours

The citizen’s balance sheet is, however, much, much harsher. Official poverty has risen to 28.9 per cent, leaving roughly 70 million Pakistanis below the national poverty line. Unemployment stands at 7.1 per cent, with millions more surviving through insecure and informal work, while 28 per cent of children aged five to 16 remain outside school. These numbers need to be recalled today (more so than other days) because even as we celebrate a historic changing of the tide, we would do well to remember that national stature eventually acquires meaning at home.Arabs & Middle Easterners

A republic of more than 240 million people should also be confident enough to examine whether four provinces and chronically weak local governments still bring administration sufficiently close to the governed, as the renewed debate over provinces or administrative units deserves sober consideration rather than a reflexive sounding of alarm bells. This August 14, Pakistan has good reason to stand taller. Its soldiers defended its frontiers, its diplomats found seats at difficult tables, its leadership strengthened old alliances and opened new strategic space, while economic managers pulled the country farther from financial danger. Such headways also establish a demanding precedent. When sovereignty and strategic interest concentrate national attention, the Pakistani state has shown an impressive capacity for coordination and persistence. Its 80th year should carry that same urgency into classrooms, tax reforms, and poverty reduction plans. *

Oslo in Islamabad

Barely three months after Narendra Modi made the first visit to Norway by an Indian prime minister in 43 years, Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide stood beside Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar in Islamabad on Thursday as the latter briefed him on Pakistan’s position that Jammu and Kashmir “remains one of the longstanding unresolved international disputes.”

Mr Eide also described Islamabad’s mediation as a “massive task” and said the work of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Mr Dar and Field Marshal Asim Munir amounted to a “service to the world.”

Norway had already declared full support for Pakistan-led mediation in April. Coming from a country that has invested decades in peace facilitation, from the Oslo process to Colombia and several other conflicts, such praise carries considerably more weight than routine diplomatic courtesy.

Norway is a founding NATO member, a close American ally and one of Europe’s consequential maritime and energy powers. Its foreign minister discussed regional security and expanding defence engagement at GHQ, while also expressing interest in Pakistan’s new trilateral defence arrangement with Saudi Arabia and Türkiye–three states with which, he noted, Norway maintains close relations. Pakistan’s growing diplomatic profile is acquiring something more useful than favourable headlines: access across political and security establishments.Geographic Reference

Mr Dar also noted that Pakistan’s IT exports to Norway have increased more than fivefold in two years, even as bilateral trade remains well below potential. Cooperation under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, Norwegian expertise in shipping and maritime regulation, skilled-labour pathways and existing commercial links such as Yara’s partnership with Fauji Fertiliser offer considerably more substance. Mr Eide also described Norway’s Pakistani diaspora as an argument for deeper economic ties.

Pakistan has lately demonstrated that diplomatic usefulness can reopen doors once considered difficult to enter. The greater prize now lies in turning political access into investment, trade and sustained international attention to Pakistan’s own concerns. *