DAWN Editorials 3rd September 2026

Diplomatic success

PAKISTAN’S star in the field of foreign policy is on the ascendant. Not too long ago, because of our own mistakes and the malevolence of some in the neighbourhood, Pakistan’s reputation had suffered internationally. That situation has changed. Today, in the region and the world, Pakistan is recognised for its diplomatic finesse, for bringing together adversaries, and for contributing to regional peace. Yet for all the accolades, the country can only capitalise on this improved reputation by addressing the internal hurdles holding it back from the path of progress.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was recently in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, to attend the SCO Council of Heads of State summit. Pakistan has assumed the SCO chair and the next summit will be held in Islamabad. At the event, Mr Sharif met with leaders from within the Eurasian bloc, including those of Russia and China. Just before the summit, the first formal meeting of the Makkah Defence Alliance was held in Istanbul.

At this forum too, Pakistan’s relevance on the global stage was highlighted — this country has been chosen to head the pact’s secretariat. The pact itself is the extension of last year’s defence agreement signed with the Saudis; that development, too, had attracted global attention. But perhaps the biggest diplomatic coup Pakistan has pulled off in the recent past was to bring Iran and the US to the negotiating table in Islamabad in April. While violence has again flared between these two states, the global consensus remains that the Islamabad MoU offers the best path to peace.

All of these laurels are well-earned, as Pakistan’s leadership has gone the extra mile to promote peace in the region. However, the true value of these diplomatic successes can only be realised when there is peace and prosperity within. Internally, the challenges remain formidable. Pakistan faces two major terrorist insurgencies in KP and Balochistan. Meanwhile, though the economic situation is now comparatively stable to what it had been not too long ago, the country is still far from the path of sustainable growth.

Political instability is another major concern. Unless space is granted to all political forces in Pakistan, stability will elude us. The PM also spoke of the importance of regional connectivity in Bishkek. Regional integration is key, but when Pakistan faces two hostile neighbours — India to the east and Taliban-ruled Afghanistan to the west — as well as a war in Iran and the Gulf, achieving this integration becomes challenging.

While Pakistan can again extend the hand of friendship to New Delhi and Kabul, much depends on how these states respond, while the situation in the Gulf is beyond Pakistan’s control. What can be done is to address internal matters such as security, economic policy and political reconciliation.

Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2026

Bond market return

PAKISTAN’S proposed dual-tranche Eurobond launch marks the country’s return to the international debt markets for longer-term financing. The initiative is part of a budgetary plan to raise $2bn through bond issuance for the current year. The issue will test the market’s willingness to price the country’s needs at relatively lower rates. Five months ago, Islamabad tested the waters with a three-year, $750m note at 6.975pc, oversubscribed enough to trigger the green-shoe option. A five- and 10-year bond is the next logical step to build a range of borrowing rates, instead of relying on a single benchmark. The issue follows Pakistan’s rating upgrades. S&P’s ‘B’ rating and Fitch’s ‘B-’ rating are still low. But they show the country’s better creditworthiness after years of downgrades and fears of default. The rating upgrades have given the government more room to borrow at better rates than it had in April. The real test is not whether the bonds are sold, but how much interest Pakistan has to pay compared with US rates and the country’s ‘falling’ risk premium.

The choice of longer tenor paper also answers a specific question the April bond could not: whether investors will hold Pakistani risk past the near-term IMF programme horizon. A three-year note matures inside the current programme’s shadow. A 10-year note bets on a Pakistan that is still servicing its debts in 2036, well beyond any single IMF arrangement. Investor appetite for that tenor will be the number worth watching. That said, returning to the international debt market on the strength of its improved credit rating and economic stability should help Pakistan reduce its dependence on expensive short-term commercial borrowing and repeated debt rollovers from friendly countries. None of this removes the underlying fragility, however. Pakistan is still tapping capital markets from a low base, with a speculative rating band, and with debt sustainability resting on continued IMF disbursements and growth compression. A successful issuance starts a track record, but does not establish one. The government’s own appointment of five joint bookrunners signals it wants broad distribution and a credible book. That suggests confidence in the outcome, but also that Islamabad knows this deal must go well after April’s success set a benchmark it cannot afford to fall below.

Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2026

Rights in jail

THE Islamabad High Court earlier this week ruled on two petitions challenging the conditions in which former prime minister Imran Khan and former first lady Bushra Bibi have been kept in Adiala Jail, ordering the jail superintendent to ensure they receive the privileges they are entitled to as prisoners and that neither is kept in isolation. It is disturbing to note that though jail officials and government representatives have consistently denied allegations that the two prisoners are being held in solitary confinement for extended periods, medical records submitted by the authorities indicate that the former prime minister has started suffering physically from the effects of isolation. Indeed, the court noted that “the admitted fact remains that access of the general prison population to his place of confinement is substantially restricted and his meaningful social interaction is consequently limited”, and that the record “prima facie recognises the adverse impact of restricted social and familial interaction upon the prisoner’s psychological and physical well-being”.

As the court rightly noted, a prisoner’s right to life, dignity and humane treatment “are not extinguished at the prison gate”. This, in particular, seems to be something that those running the Pakistani penal system have never quite wrapped their heads around. Human beings cannot be mistreated, even when they have erred. The law may prescribe the most severe punishment for their crimes, but that does not mean prisoners can be treated by their jailers as they see fit. Unfortunately, most Pakistani prisoners are frequently made to suffer far more than what is just or right. The injustices done to them are also very rarely remedied. Therefore, for a once powerful leader to be made to suffer in this manner is merely a symptom of a much larger disease. Our penal system needs much more than one-time interventions to address its maladies; it needs to be rebuilt as an instrument of justice rather than remain a means of inflicting pain.

Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2026