Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar will represent Pakistan at a meeting of foreign ministers from eight major Muslim countries in Turkey next week, to discuss the next steps in the Gaza peace plan. All preparations for Ishaq Dar’s visit have been finalised. The trip is taking place at the invitation of Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. According to diplomatic sources, Dar will depart for Turkey on Monday, November 3. Alongside Dar and Fidan, foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Egypt, Indonesia, and Jordan are expected to attend the meeting. Diplomatic sources said that Dar is likely to strongly condemn Israel’s resumption of attacks on Gaza while reaffirming Pakistan’s full support for the Palestinian people. The Foreign Office confirmed in a statement last Tuesday that Dar and Fidan discussed the evolving situation in Gaza and outlined next steps and strategies for achieving lasting peace in Palestine. In September, eight Arab and Muslim-majority countries formed a group to coordinate with US President Donald Trump to end the Israel-Hamas conflict. The group, convened on September 23 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, builds on the 2023 Arab-Islamic Contact Group and aims to align with Trump’s 20-point peace plan. The coalition’s goals included an immediate ceasefire; the exchange of all hostages and remains of those killed; deployment of a multinational stabilisation force to secure and demilitarize Gaza; and Gulf-funded reconstruction of the enclave as a terror-free economic zone. It also supports Gaza–West Bank unification and a two-state solution, while advancing regional normalisation under the Abraham Accords framework. The upcoming meeting of the group follows weeks of deliberations within the coalition of Muslim and Arab-majority states.
Ishaq Dar set to visit Turkey Monday for Gaza peace talks
