Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar met Oman's Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) 2026 in Manila on Thursday, where the two sides agreed to deepen bilateral cooperation and exchanged views on regional and international developments, the Foreign Office (FO) said.
Dar, along with his delegation, arrived in Manila on Wednesday and is scheduled to take part in the ARF Plenary meeting as well as hold a series of bilateral meetings with his counterparts on the sidelines of the forum.
According to the FO, the two foreign ministers expressed satisfaction over the "positive trajectory" of relations between Pakistan and Oman and reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthening bilateral cooperation.
Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar @MIshaqDar50 met with Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, Foreign Minister of the Sultanate of Oman, on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum #ARF2026 in Manila.
The two leaders expressed satisfaction with the… pic.twitter.com/X42Ucbav5g
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Pakistan (@ForeignOfficePk) July 23, 2026
"They agreed to further strengthen collaboration through high-level exchanges, enhanced trade and investment, people-to-people contacts, stronger business-to-business linkages, and continued coordination at multilateral forums," the FO said in a post on X.
The two ministers also discussed the latest regional and international developments during their meeting.
Read: Dar urges ADB to expedite financing for ML-1 railway project
The FO said the Omani foreign minister appreciated Pakistan's "constructive role in promoting dialogue, de-escalation, and regional peace and security".
Both sides also expressed concern over recent developments in the region and stressed "the importance of upholding the ceasefire, respecting international law, and working towards lasting peace and stability in the region", according to the FO. The two ministers agreed to remain in close contact, the statement added.
On his first full day in Manila, Dar held a series of diplomatic engagements ahead of the ASEAN Regional Forum ministerial meeting. He met senior Asian Development Bank (ADB) officials at the bank's headquarters, where he urged the lender to expedite financing for Pakistan's Main Line-1 (ML-1) railway project and reaffirmed their more than six-decade partnership, and discussed expanding cooperation in various sectors.
Dar also held separate meetings with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Bangladesh's Foreign Minister Khalilur Rehman. During his talks with Lavrov, the two reviewed Pakistan-Russia ties, reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening cooperation in trade, energy and connectivity. In his meeting with Rehman, the two ministers reviewed what the Foreign Office described as the "positive trajectory" of Pakistan-Bangladesh relations and reaffirmed their commitment to building on the momentum generated by Dar's visit to Bangladesh last year.
The week-long summit, which will run through July 24, gathers foreign ministers and top diplomats from ASEAN nations and major powers to discuss issues surrounding geopolitical challenges, energy supplies, trade, food, security cooperation, Myanmar civil war and the Five-Point Consensus, as well as the impacts of the US-Iran conflict.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will join the ASEAN-led meeting in the coming days and could meet on the sidelines. Also attending will be India, Japan, Australia, South Korea, Russia, Britain and the European Union, among others.
Southeast Asia, a major oil importer with a combined gross domestic product of $3.8 trillion, is highly exposed to the supply crunch and has sought to fast-track an ASEAN oil-sharing mechanism to mitigate the impact.
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