Brussels: Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar has said that Pakistan has strengthened its Joint Maritime Information Coordination Centre, integrating satellite-based monitoring and AI-enabled vessel tracking with the support of SUPARCO. We look forward to enhancing cooperation with our partners in this regard.

This was stated by Ishaq Dar in his statement on Critical Maritime Infrastructure and Connectivity/Development. Ishaq Dar said that Pakistan is a littoral state with a geostrategic location at the crossroads of key international sea lanes and the northern Arabian Sea as our 'fifth neighbour.' He said that the Arabian Sea remains central to our national security, connectivity, economic resilience, food and energy security. From Karachi to Gwadar, our ports are gateways linking the landlocked heart of Central Asia to the global trading system. Pakistan, therefore, views maritime security and economic development as mutually reinforcing.

Ishaq Dar said that today's maritime threats are both multidimensional and transnational. We face threats ranging from piracy, terrorism, and trafficking of arms and narcotics, to cyber vulnerabilities at port infrastructure, marine pollution, and the growing climate-induced risks to coastal zones. Therefore, a stronger cooperation in the maritime domain as well as awareness, information sharing, and early warning, is needed to address the challenges.

He said that Pakistan believes that through mutual trust, transparency, and adherence to international law, we can collectively build a maritime domain that is secure, resilient and also sustainable.

In this background, I would like to highlight 3 important points:

First, to ensure that oceans remain spaces for cooperation and shared prosperity, we must look away from exclusionary or hegemonic arrangements in the maritime domain. We must enhance cooperation under the framework of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) as well as regional and bilateral legal instruments and customary international law. It is imperative to ensure the harmonious and judicious use of ocean resources as a common heritage of mankind. Maritime disputes must be resolved through peaceful means, in line with international law.

Second, we must combine connectivity with resilience. Critical infrastructure should be developed through diversification addressing redundancy mechanisms. We must align best practices so that disruption in one region does not cascade globally.

Third, maritime development must be anchored in international cooperation and technological solutions.

Ishaq Dar said that Pakistan looks forward to deepening cooperation with the EU and partner countries in technology transfer, regulatory exchanges, and capacity-building for the protection of critical maritime infrastructure. Our vision is straightforward: we want to ensure that the seas remain zones of peace, prosperity, and shared progress, where connectivity builds resilience, not rivalry.