Islamabad: Director General (DG) Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, while reaffirming Pakistan’s commitment to regional peace, stability and dialogue, emphasized that negotiated solutions remain the only sustainable way to address complex regional conflicts.
In an interview with international English-language news channel Al Arabiya, the DG ISPR said Pakistan would continue its efforts to facilitate a negotiated and peaceful resolution to the conflict between Iran and the United States.
Pakistan had assumed a mediating role because it remained committed to regional peace and stability, he said, adding that Islamabad’s objective was to prevent the conflict from escalating and spreading across the region.
‘Pakistan is a big proponent of peace in the region,’ he said, adding that Islamabad’s policy of multi-alignment and engagement with countries around the world placed it in a position to act as an ‘objective’ and ‘honest broker’ for peace.
The DG ISPR said mediation required neutrality and objectivity, particularly in a conflict rooted in decades of mistrust and complex disputes.
‘Pakistan’s political and military leadership has been reaching out to all the parties so that better sense prevails and, instead of a military solution, we come to a negotiated outcome,’ he said.
Ahmed Sharif said Pakistan’s longstanding relations with both Washington and Tehran enabled it to engage with the two sides without making its relationship with one come at the expense of the other.
He described Pakistan’s ties with the United States as longstanding and its relationship with Iran as ‘brotherly, neighbourly and strategic’.
‘Pakistan has no personal or own objective in this dispute,’ he said, adding that Islamabad’s principal concern was to prevent the conflict from escalating ‘horizontally as well as vertically’.
He said Pakistan wanted differences to be resolved through negotiations rather than through military action.
The DG ISPR said Islamabad’s relations with other countries, including China, were based on mutual benefit and were independent of one another.
‘We have independent relations with multiple countries, multiple poles, multiple powers in this world,’ he said.
Regarding the Pak-Saudi-Trkiye defence agreement, the DG ISPR rejected the suggestion that the arrangement could complicate Pakistan’s position towards Iran.
He said the agreement was the formalisation of decades-old strategic, political and military relations among the three countries. The agreement was based on ‘collective deterrence’ and was ‘purely defensive in nature’, he said.
‘There is nothing aggressive, there are no regional aspirations,’ the DG ISPR remarked.
He said the arrangement was complementary to the three countries’ existing relationships with other states and alliances, including Pakistan’s strategic relationship with China.
He said any future expansion would depend on the leadership of the three countries and could potentially involve partners sharing a commitment to regional peace, stability, non-aggression, non-interference and collective deterrence.
Turning to Pakistan-India relations, the DG ISPR described the May 2025 military confrontation between the two nuclear-armed neighbours as evidence of the dangers of military escalation.
He said Pakistan’s position was that a military conflict between two neighbouring nuclear states should not occur.
He said Pakistan had demonstrated its capabilities across multiple domains during the confrontation, including air, ground, maritime, cyber, information and diplomatic spheres.
The DG ISPR said that India was attempting to externalise its internal problems besides supporting terrorism in Pakistan.
He said Pakistan wanted peace ‘on equal terms’ but would respond to any military aggression against its territory.
‘If they have any misconceptions of Akhand Bharat, of regional hegemony, and they want to express it through military aggression, then the results of that would be beyond their imagination,’ he said.
Ahmed Sharif said Pakistan’s nuclear policy remained unchanged before, during and after the 2025 conflict.
‘There cannot be a military conflict between two nuclear countries,’ he said, describing such a confrontation as carrying potentially grave consequences for the region and the world.
He said Pakistan viewed its military capability and resolve as a deterrent against aggression, while stressing the importance of political leadership exercising restraint and maintaining escalation control.
The DG ISPR also highlighted communication as an important mechanism for preventing crises from escalating.
He said the Pakistan-India Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) hotline, established decades ago, remained operational during and after the 2025 confrontation.
‘More communication is good,’ he said, adding that engagement between the two countries should be based on equality, mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and adherence to international norms.
On the possibility of resuming dialogue with India, the DG ISPR said the decision ultimately rested with the political leadership.
He said any dialogue should be conducted on equal terms and should seek to address outstanding issues.
Regarding Afghanistan, the DG ISPR said that the Afghan Taliban authorities were allowing militant groups to use Afghan territory for recruitment, training, arming and launching attacks against Pakistan and elsewhere in the region.
He referred to recent United Nations reporting, saying it had identified a number of militant organisations operating from Afghanistan.
He stated that Islamabad reserved the right to self-defence under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.
The DG ISPR added that the Pakistani state had an obligation to protect the lives, property and security of its citizens and would take whatever measures it considered necessary. ‘The right of self-defence is given to each nation, state of the world,’ he said.
Ahmed Sharif said Pakistan would continue its counter-terrorism campaign, which, he said, had been ongoing for two decades.
He said Pakistan’s security policy was ultimately aimed at protecting the country’s territorial integrity and its people while seeking regional peace and stability through diplomatic engagement where possible.