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ISLAMABAD: Leaders from Pakistan, Arab Gulf nations and other Muslim states met on Monday in New York to ponder a unified approach on key regional and global issues at the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), the Pakistani foreign office said.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif led the Pakistan delegation to New York as the General Assembly High-level Week 2025 kicked off on Monday, with global leaders in attendance and Tuesday, Sept. 23 set to be the first day of the high-level General Debate at the 80th session.

On Monday, Deputy PM and Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar, represented Pakistan in consultations hosted by Qatari PM Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani in New York, which also included deputy prime ministers of Jordan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and foreign ministers of ����ֱ��, Egypt, Indonesia and Turkiye.

Dar underscored that the people of Pakistan had great affinity for their Muslim brethren in the Middle East and would support all constructive endeavours aimed at fostering peace, stability and prosperity in the region and beyond.

“The ministers exchanged views and coordinated positions for unified approach on some of the key issues at the UN General Assembly session,” the Pakistani foreign office said.

The UNGA session comes in the backdrop of Israel’s nearly two-year war on Gaza and the recent strikes against Hamas leaders in the Qatari capital of Doha, which raised fears of a wider military conflict in an already volatile region and drew condemnations from the Muslim world.

The 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly is being held under the theme “Better together: 80 years and more for peace, development and human rights.”

From Sept. 23 till Sept. 29, the session will feature speeches from presidents, prime ministers and monarchs who will deliver national statements, set out visions for peace, development, human rights and collective action at the iconic green marble podium.

Pakistan PM Sharif as well as various world leaders will also take part in the “High-level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution,” which will be co-chaired by ����ֱ�� and France.

In a statement on Sunday, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said Sharif will urge the international community to resolve the crises in Palestine and disputed Kashmir territory and grant the people there the right to self-determination. The Pakistani prime minister will call for decisive action to end the suffering of the Palestinians.

“He will also highlight Pakistan’s perspective on the regional security situation as well as other issues of international concern, including climate change, terrorism, Islamophobia, and sustainable development,” the statement said.

“The prime minister will also participate in a meeting of select Islamic leaders with US President [Donald] Trump to exchange views on issues pertaining to regional and international peace and security.”

Sharif is expected to hold bilateral meetings with several world leaders and senior UN officials to discuss matters of mutual interest, according to the Pakistan foreign ministry. He will also underline Pakistan’s resolve to work with all UN member states to uphold the UN Charter, prevent conflict, foster peace and promote global prosperity in Pakistan’s current role as a member of the Security Council.

ISLAMABAD: Police in Pakistan’s Punjab province have arrested 89 suspected militants in hundreds of intelligence-based operations across the province over the past three months, they said on Monday, amid a surge in militancy in the South Asian country.

Pakistan is currently battling an insurgency led by religiously motivated groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), in its Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, which borders Punjab. The attacks in KP this year forced Punjab authorities to heighten security in the region.

The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab police conducted 940 raids and arrested 28 militants from Lahore and Rawalpindi, seven each from Faisalabad and Bahawalpur, 12 from Jhang and Sargodha, five from Sahiwal, four from Gujranwala and six from Gujrat and Bahawalnagar districts.

“Among the arrested militants were 55 linked to Fitna Al-Khawarij [Pakistani Taliban], five to Daesh, two to Al-Qaeda, two to Hizb ul-Tahrir and two to Jiye Sindh,” the Punjab CTD said in a statement.

“In the last three months, 13,521 combing operations were carried out during which 1,131 suspects were arrested.”

It said officials seized explosives, detonators, safety fuses, propaganda pamphlets, cash, primacord and other materials from the suspects, who were “planning attacks at various locations” to spread fear and panic among public.

The statement came hours after at least 24 people, including militants and civilians, were killed when a suspected bomb-making facility exploded on Monday at a compound used by Pakistani Taliban fighters in KP’s Tirah valley, according to media reports.

Fifteen people were killed this month in a suicide bombing claimed by the Daesh group at a political rally in the provincial capital Quetta.

According to the 2025 Global Terrorism Index (GTI), Pakistan is the world’s second-most affected country by militant violence, with deaths rising 45 percent to 1,081 in 2024.

The 12th annual GTI report, published by Australia-based think tank Institute for Economics and Peace, ranked 163 countries in 2024, covering 99.7 percent of the world’s population and analyzing the impact of militant activities worldwide. Pakistan is second only to West African country Burkina Faso on the list.

Pakistan has struggled to contain a surge in militancy in KP since a fragile truce between the Pakistani Taliban and Islamabad broke down in Nov. 2022. The country faces another decades-long insurgency by Baloch separatists in its southwestern Balochistan province.

Islamabad has frequently accused Afghanistan of allowing the use of its soil and India of backing militant groups for attacks against Pakistan. Kabul and New Delhi deny the allegation.