Pakistan in January 2026: the most important developments in politics
In January 2026, Pakistan's political agenda was dominated by the Board of Peace, an initiative unveiled by US President Donald Trump with a focus on Gaza. On 21 January eight Muslim-majority countries, among them Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, accepted an invitation to join, and Pakistan's Foreign Office confirmed its acceptance. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif confirmed the decision while meeting Trump and other leaders on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. The defence minister defended the move against domestic criticism. By 28 January Pakistan was listed among 26 founding members, with the G7 and other major powers absent. At the end of the month the Jamaat-e-Islami party urged opposition parties to oppose any plan to send Pakistani troops to Gaza. In Davos, Sharif and CDF Asim Munir also held separate meetings with the US Secretary of State and the president of Azerbaijan.
A second strand was Pakistan's diplomacy on Iran. Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar expressed hope for peace and stability in Iran in a call with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on 17 January. On 29 January Sharif and the Iranian president discussed regional issues by phone, and Pakistan voiced support for diplomacy while expressing alarm at renewed tensions between Iran and the United States and opposing foreign interference. President Asif Ali Zardari and Sharif also held talks with UAE leaders, and Munir met his Turkish counterpart.
At home, the standoff between the government and the PTI continued. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi said military operations had been imposed on the province without its government's approval. An Islamabad court issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for him in a cybercrime case, and on 29 January he announced an overnight sit-in after he and other PTI leaders were again denied access to Imran Khan at Adiala Jail. The PTI disputed official accounts of Khan's health. Pakistan's Foreign Office rejected EU criticism of the convictions of activists Imaan Mazari and Hadi Khatri as an internal matter, and on 30 January an Islamabad court removed a reference to 'terrorist states' from its written judgment.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
Click a day in the chart above for that day's brief.