Pakistan envoy Rizwan Saeed Sheikh flags South Asia security risks in US talks

WEB DESK: Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States, Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, held an important meeting with Chairman of the US House Armed Services Committee, Mike Rogers, as part of his ongoing engagements with senior American leadership.

According to an official statement, the meeting featured detailed discussions on Pakistan–US relations and avenues for strengthening bilateral cooperation. Ambassador Sheikh described 2025 as a year of significant achievements in ties between the two countries and expressed confidence that the scope of cooperation would be further expanded in 2026.

Highlighting Pakistan’s national security outlook, the ambassador said Islamabad’s focus had shifted beyond geopolitics to geoeconomics, reflecting its broader development and stability priorities.

Referring to developments in May 2025, Ambassador Sheikh warned that India’s “irresponsible and aggressive behaviour” had posed serious risks to regional security, lowering the threshold for escalation to dangerous levels. He noted that competition between two nuclear-armed states had extended beyond conventional warfare to the use of advanced technologies, describing the deployment of dual-capable weapons such as the BrahMos missile in a region home to 1.7 billion people as deeply alarming.

He cautioned that decisions driven by misperceptions or miscalculations could be detrimental to regional peace and stability. The ambassador said the May 2025 crisis had demonstrated that, despite India’s stated Indo-Pacific posture, a significant portion of its military capabilities remained focused against Pakistan.

Ambassador Sheikh also praised the political foresight and personal engagement of the US president in helping manage and defuse the May crisis, calling the role constructive and commendable.

On Pakistan–India relations, he reiterated that the core unresolved issue remained the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people. He stressed that sustained engagement and commitment by the United States were vital for ensuring durable peace and stability in the region.

Addressing the security situation in Pakistan, the ambassador said that the links of terrorist activities carried out inside the country led back to Afghanistan. He shared that terrorist incidents in Pakistan rose by 40 per cent in 2024 and increased by a further 25pc in 2025. He also expressed concern over the misuse of advanced weaponry left behind during the withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying it continued to undermine Pakistan’s peace and security.

The meeting concluded with both sides agreeing to establish, at the earliest, an institutionalised and structured dialogue mechanism to address matters of mutual interest and strengthen bilateral cooperation.

Web Desk