ISLAMABAD – Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, is set to host peace talks today with negotiators from Iran and the US, including Vice President J.D. Vance. It's the culmination of weeks of frantic diplomacy by Pakistan's leaders, who pitched the city as the venue for talks even before they took the lead as a key mediator that both the U.S. and Iran credited for helping broker a two-week ceasefire.
The meeting has put Pakistan at the center of the biggest story in the world, spotlighting its normally sleepy capital that has been preparing for days for high-profile delegations to arrive. Ahead of the talks, many in Islamabad were still trying to get their heads around the fact that their country's diplomatic efforts actually worked. "I'm a bit surprised," says 19-year-old Khizra Zaheer, standing in a parking lot of a shopping area near the center of the city. "When did Pakistan get so influential?"
That has been a central question in the past three weeks as Pakistan transitioned from a quiet go-between to an active participant in negotiations between the US and Iran, pulling in leaders from Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and China to support its peace efforts before putting forward a ceasefire plan. The true significance of Pakistan's intervention only became clear when both sides agreed to a pause shortly after a down-to-the-wire plea from the country's prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif.
President Trump and Iran's foreign ministry went on to name Sharif and Pakistani army chief Asim Munir, in their ceasefire announcements. "That was a very rare concurrence, because no other country enjoyed the same kind of trust from both parties," says Rasheed Wali Janjua, director of research at the Islamabad Policy Research Institute, a national security think-tank. "It's a fair assessment to say that both parties are looking for a way out."
Now, Pakistan faces another difficult task during its Islamabad talks: trying to get them to reach an agreement that can turn a fragile ceasefire into something that lasts. If the talks succeed, it could lead to "radically changed perceptions of Pakistan" in the world, says Ishtiaq Ahmad, professor emeritus at Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad. That global relevance, especially in the eyes of the US, is something that Pakistan has pushed for, even as it has struggled with political and economic volatility at home. "There is a disconnect between Pakistan's diplomatic achievement and the situation back home," Ahmad says.
There are also potential sticking points for the Islamabad talks that could derail Pakistan's ability to act as a broker of lasting peace, including the Strait of Hormuz and Lebanon – which has come under Israeli attack even after Sharif declared it was covered by the ceasefire. Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam sought Pakistan's help directly on Thursday to bring an end to these attacks.
Daniel Markey, a senior fellow with the South Asia program at the Stimson Center, says Pakistan's political leadership doesn't see Israel as "a force that it wants to reckon with," in part because its policies are deeply unpopular there. Islamabad does not recognize Israel diplomatically, and any signs in the past of that political chill easing have been met with public fury.
So, talks in Islamabad have instead focused on dialogue between the United States and Iran. The U.S. delegation, led by J.D. Vance, and Iran's delegation, led by parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, arrived in the capital Saturday. Pakistan's prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, and foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, are expected to facilitate the talks.
They, along with Pakistan's army chief Asim Munir and intelligence chief turned National Security Advisor, Asim Malik, have been main players in the country's diplomatic efforts – the official details of which were kept under tight wraps until a ceasefire was announced. The exact plan for Saturday's meeting has also been heavily guarded, even up until the morning it is set to take place.
Residents of Islamabad have instead been left reading between the lines about the role their city will play. Earlier this week, a five-star hotel in Islamabad was cleared of its guests for "an important event," and the government declared a two-day holiday on Thursday and Friday, without providing a reason. A more decisive nod to the "Islamabad Talks" is a slew of billboards that have quietly popped up around the city showing Iranian, American, and Pakistani flags side by side.
Islamabad was in many ways built for a moment like this; It's a government city arranged in a neat rectangle that has all major roads leading to the Red Zone, a diplomatic sector housing government buildings and most embassies, which regularly gets cordoned off with hulking shipping containers during moments of heightened security.
On Friday before the talks, the usual containers were absent, but there were other signs that something is underfoot in Islamabad: lines of barbed wire, concrete barriers, and police cars blocking roads – forcing diversions that left commuters stranded. Cars careened the wrong way on major highways to avoid traffic jams, and police frantically waved down their drivers to turn them back where they came from.
Muhammad Waseem, 43, stood on the side of a blocked road with his son, trying to find a motorbike rider who would pick them up and bring them home. He said the inconvenience is a small price to pay for Pakistan's role in the peace process.
"Peace talks are going on, so for this we should compromise."
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