DAWN Editorials 12th August 2026

Mideast outreach

OVER the past few days, Pakistan has been going the extra mile to assure Iran that the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement it signed last week with Saudi Arabia and Turkiye poses no threat to Tehran.

In a recent telephone call, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar told his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi that the pact is “not an instrument of confrontation”. Moreover, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told the cabinet that the agreement is “entirely for defence purposes”.

Tehran seems to have understood the messaging, as the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said his country had no reason to believe the pact was aimed at encircling it, and that it showed that countries of the region could not depend on the American security umbrella.

Perhaps the reason for speculation surrounding the deal was the mutual defence component, which says that an attack on one signatory is an attack on all. Considering the targeting of US military assets in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states by Iran during the active phase of hostilities with America, observers have debated whether the signatories of the deal could step in militarily. However, the clarifications regarding Iran are welcome. In fact, what is needed is a new regional security architecture that binds the Arabs, Iranians and other states together.

Achieving this would be difficult, considering the pro-America stance of the GCC states. However, the American military footprint in the Gulf and larger Middle East may eventually shrink, which means that regional states will have to eventually work out a security framework amongst themselves. The Makkah pact could provide a blueprint for such defence cooperation. The Turkish president has already said that the pact is open to other countries.

If Iran were to be brought on board, it could significantly alter the regional security landscape. For this to happen, the existing high levels of mistrust between the Arabs, particularly Saudi Arabia, and the Iranians, would need to be reduced. But states such as Pakistan and Turkiye, which maintain cordial ties with both sides, can attempt to bridge the gap. As a CBM, Iran should open up the Strait of Hormuz, as its continued closure is battering Gulf economies. The Arab states should also pledge to disallow outsiders from staging aggression against Iran from their soil.

Instead of depending on extra-regional powers, the states of the Gulf and Middle East must themselves create a new security architecture. Not only would this reduce the tensions that exist between them, it could also serve as an expanded defence pact to deter Israel from attacking regional states. Tel Aviv has attacked Iran and its allies, as well as pro-America states like Qatar, hence an effective regional defensive bloc could make Israel think twice about its violent adventurism.

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2026

Nutrition emergency

MALNUTRITION has become one of the biggest obstacles to Pakistan’s development. Around 40pc of children under five are stunted, a figure that should trouble us not only because of what it says about child health, but because of what it means for the country’s future. Children who do not get the nutrition they need in their earliest years are more likely to struggle with learning, health and productivity later in life. The damage can follow them into adulthood and, in many cases, into the next generation. Pakistan is also estimated to lose nearly $17bn every year because of malnutrition and undernutrition. That makes it an economic and development problem as well. DawnMedia’s Act for Nutrition conference, to be held in Islamabad next month, seeks to bring that broader understanding into the national conversation. This is important because stunting does not have a single cause. A family may not be able to afford nutritious food. A child may repeatedly fall ill because of unsafe water or poor sanitation. A mother may not receive proper nutrition or healthcare during pregnancy. Weak primary healthcare, poor feeding practices, poverty and rapid population growth can all reinforce the same cycle.

The harder question is what happens after the discussion ends. Pakistan has had nutrition programmes and official commitments before, but progress has remained far too slow. The response has to be practical and sustained. Mothers need better nutrition and antenatal support. Families need access to clean water, sanitation and reliable primary healthcare. Breastfeeding support, micronutrient supplementation, food fortification and regular growth monitoring must reach communities consistently rather than through scattered initiatives. Social protection programmes should also do more to identify and assist mothers and children who are most at risk. Just as importantly, governments need to know where they are failing. District-level nutrition data should be published regularly and used to direct resources where needed most. Conferences are important as they bring officials, doctors, economists, development partners and civil society together, but the real measure of success will be what follows: clear responsibilities, adequate funding and results that can be tracked. Pakistan has discussed malnutrition for years. What is needed now is the persistence to treat it as the national development challenge it already is.

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2026

Housing deficit

THE federal cabinet’s zoning directive has the potential to be the most consequential decision in the redefinition of urban housing in Pakistan, provided the provinces also implement it. For decades, our haphazard urban expansion has followed a costly pattern. Housing societies have spread across farmland on the edges of cities more as investment opportunities than to meet actual housing demand. The result: an uncontrolled sprawl without a corresponding reduction in the housing deficit. This model has diverted capital into land banking while consuming farmland around cities and pushing food inflation. For a country facing food insecurity, water stress and climate vulnerability, treating fertile land as an inexhaustible urban reserve makes no economic sense. If enforced, the decision to link the national housing policy with zoning compliance and vertical construction could prove a departure from the existing land-intensive model that has so far shaped our cities.

The logic is simple. Horizontal expansion consumes new land for every additional tranche of housing. Vertical development can accommodate several times as many families on the same footprint while preserving farmland. But vertical construction needs enforceable zoning, density standards, building and energy-efficiency codes, and adequate infrastructure. Unless the provinces enforce these rules and provide proper services, the federal housing policy will remain largely advisory. The deficit is estimated at more than 10m units, while population growth and urbanisation need close to another million annually. We cannot meet that requirement by pushing housing societies into the countryside. We need to build more homes on less land. However, supply is only half the problem. The other is affordability. The government should connect zoning, vertical construction and mortgage affordability into a single housing strategy. The aim should not be to build more housing societies, but more homes in the right places and at affordable prices, while protecting the land on which our food security depends.

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2026