WASHINGTON: Pakistan has called for the launch of a high-level economic dialogue with the United States at the earliest and urged a shift in bilateral engagement from geopolitics to geoeconomics during a series of meetings between Ambassador Rizwan Saeed Sheikh and senior members of Congress.

Meeting House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast and House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US said 2026 should be treated as a “year of action” to translate shared intentions into concrete economic cooperation.

“Our focus is shifting from geopolitics to geoeconomics,” he said, according to one of two handouts issued after the meeting, and stressed the need for institutionalised engagement in sectors such as energy, defence, minerals, information technology and artificial intelligence.

Ambassador Sheikh said Pakistan’s low-cost, high-quality manufacturing base positioned it well to meet growing US market needs, highlighting surgical instruments, textiles and sports goods having strong export potential, noting that footballs manufactured in Sialkot had been used in five consecutive Fifa World Cups.

US State Secretary Marco Rubio recently spoke positively about expanding ties with Pakistan, describing the relationship as one with significant untapped potential. “We see an opportunity to expand our strategic relationship with Pakistan,” Rubio said in October 2025, adding that Washington valued Islamabad’s long history of cooperation, particularly in counter-terrorism.

Ambassador Rizwan Saeed Sheikh highlights regional security challenges; says Kashmir issue remains central to lasting S. Asia stability

Meanwhile, Ambassador Sheikh in his meeting with US lawmakers praised the US president’s political judgement and personal engagement in helping de-escalate tensions following the military escalation between Islamabad and New Delhi in May 2025.

According to the handouts, the discussions in Washington also focused on regional security challenges, with the Pakistani ambassador warning that terrorism originating from Afghanistan continued to pose serious threats to Pakistan’s security as well as to regional and international peace.

Addressing South Asian tensions, Ambassador Sheikh referred to the events of May 2025 and said India’s “irresponsible and aggressive behaviour” had lowered the threshold of escalation in the region. He warned that confrontation between two nuclear-armed neighbours had moved beyond conventional conflict to include advanced technologies.

He cautioned that decisions based on misperceptions or miscalculations could undermine regional peace and reiterated that the unresolved Kashmir issue remained central to lasting stability in South Asia.

Published in Dawn, January 10th, 2026