The critical Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandab Strait "must remain" open, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has told the UN General Assembly in New York.
"Amid the roar of missiles, drones, and guns, the voice for diplomacy must echo even louder and stronger," Sharif said, calling both straits "arteries" of the global economy.
They "must remain open," connecting nations rather than becoming chokepoints of confrontation, he said.
After the US and Israel launched the war on Iran, Pakistan helped secure a ceasefire and later hosted talks between American and Iranian officials in Islamabad.
A June deal brokered by Pakistan provided the two sides with a framework and 60 days to negotiate a longer-term agreement aimed at ending the war.
However, the two sides soon resumed retaliatory strikes, with tensions continuing.
On the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement signed last month by Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan, Sharif reiterated that the pact is "not directed against any country," but is instead "a collective commitment for defence, stability and peace in the region, and nothing more."
Indus Waters Treaty, Kashmir
On the Indus Waters Treaty, under which India stopped sharing water data with Pakistan last year, he said that "water must never be weaponised."
"Any attempt to stop, impede, or divert Pakistan's share of the waters will be treated as an act of war," he said.
Sharif thanked US President Donald Trump for saving "hundreds of millions of lives in South Asia," referring to a US-brokered ceasefire between India and Pakistan last year, when the nuclear-armed powers clashed.
On the disputed Kashmir region, he said that Islamabad will continue to extend its "full diplomatic, political, and moral support" until Kashmiris “are granted their inalienable right to self-determination."
"Kashmir has, and always will be, Pakistan’s jugular vein!" Sharif said.
He voiced concern about the "alarming rise in Islamophobia" and said religious hatred "must have no place in this world."
