islamabad
\nFederal ministers on Tuesday cautioned against \u201csensational\u201d commentary on Pakistan\u2019s foreign policy, warning that action would be taken if \u201cred lines\u201d were crossed.
\nAddressing a joint press conference, Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, and Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Pakistan\u2019s interests remained paramount and urged social media users and commentators to avoid unnecessary remarks about the country\u2019s external relations.
\nHighlighting constitutional provisions, the law minister said Article 19 guaranteed freedom of expression but also imposed certain legal restrictions. While reading out clauses from Article 19, he cautioned that people should avoid commentary that could jeopardize national security or harm Pakistan\u2019s relations with friendly countries.
\n\u201cFreedom of expression comes with limitations. Caution must be exercised when discussing religion, national security, and Pakistan\u2019s relations with friendly countries,\u201d he said.
\nAzam Tarar added that while the government had maintained a fair policy, action would be taken if boundaries were crossed. \u201cOnly when the red line is crossed will action be taken,\u201d he said, urging caution in commentary on electronic and social media as the region passes through a difficult phase.
\n\u201cThe Foreign Office has played a key role during the current situation. For us, Pakistan\u2019s interests come first,\u201d Tarar said, adding that the country maintained close and friendly ties with states in the region.
\nCurrently, Pakistan is engaged in hostilities with Afghanistan, which escalated in early February 2026, following a series of cross-border clashes in the border regions. Pakistan has accused Afghan-based militant groups known as Fitna al-Khawarij of carrying out attacks on its soil, prompting heightened security measures along the frontier.
\nWhile the United States and Israel have launched pre-emptive attacks on Iran following rising regional tensions. The latest escalation began early March after the United States and Israel launched pre-emptive strikes on targets in Iran, triggering a sharp deterioration in regional tensions. The attacks followed the killing of Iran\u2019s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
\nSince then, the conflict has expanded across multiple fronts in the Gulf region, with Iran vowing retaliation and warning of wider consequences.
\nThe repercussions spread across Pakistan as protests over the killing of Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on 1\u202fMarch\u202f2026 turned violent in Pakistan\u2019s port city of Karachi when hundreds of pro-Iran demonstrators marched on the United States consulate there.
\nHundreds of protesters breached the outer wall of the consulate, vandalised the building and attempted to storm the compound amid chants of anti\u2011US and anti\u2011Israeli slogans.
\nSecurity forces, including local police, paramilitaries and US Marine Security Guards, responded with tear gas and, as the situation escalated, opened fire to repel the crowd. At least 10 protestors were killed and dozens more injured in the clashes, and the unrest prompted suspension of visa services at US consulates in Karachi and Lahore as a security precaution. The violence also spread to other cities, with demonstrators attacking UN and government offices in parts of the north such as in Skardu.
\nThe minister, in today\u2019s presser, warned that negative vlogs or commentary about relations between countries merely to gain online views could harm Pakistan\u2019s interests.
\n\u201cCreating sensationalism to gain views is harmful. In the current situation, spreading sensationalism is not a service to the country,\u201d he said.
\nTarar added that statements made in Pakistani media were often interpreted abroad as the state\u2019s official stance. \u201cIn other countries, what is said in our media is taken as the policy of the state,\u201d he noted, urging commentators not to base discussions on personal likes, dislikes, or political agendas.
\nLaw Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said Pakistan had consistently sought diplomatic solutions and was playing an active role in regional efforts to de-escalate tensions. \u201cPakistan is a responsible nuclear state and has a clear stance on defence and foreign policy,\u201d he said, adding that parliament had also been briefed on the ongoing conflict.
\nLaw Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said that Pakistan is geographically significant and has sought diplomatic solutions in the current situation. He noted that Parliament has been briefed on the ongoing conflict, and the Prime Minister has also issued a statement following the killing of Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader. He said the prime minister had issued a statement following the killing of Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader and was in contact with leaders of other countries to address the evolving situation. \u201cPakistan is a responsible nuclear state and has a clear stance on defence and foreign policy,\u201d he added.
\nEarlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Saturday on his social media platform X that Pakistan stood in full solidarity with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states following Iranian attacks on them in retaliation for strikes by Israel and the United States on the Islamic republic.
\nHe further said that Pakistan is playing an active diplomatic role in the conflict, with the Prime Minister in contact with various world leaders, and that Pakistan has also taken an active role at the UN Security Council.
\nPakistan\u2019s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, strongly rebuked the Afghan and Indian envoys during a United Nations Security Council session on Afghanistan, accusing them of ignoring cross-border militancy targeting Pakistan. He said Afghan diplomat Naseer Ahmad Faiq was \u201ccut off from ground realities\u201d and criticised him for failing to address attacks from Afghan soil that harmed Pakistani civilians, security forces, and infrastructure.
\nAhmad also accused India of supporting militant groups operating from Afghanistan, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), and of violating international law in occupied Kashmir. Despite the criticism, he reaffirmed Pakistan\u2019s commitment to promoting peace and stability in Afghanistan, stressing that this required the Taliban to honour commitments on counter-terrorism, inclusive governance, and protecting the rights of Afghan women and girls.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
islamabad Federal ministers on Tuesday cautioned against \u201csensational\u201d commentary on Pakistan\u2019s foreign policy, warning that action would be taken if \u201cred lines\u201d were crossed. Addressing a joint press conference, Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, and Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Pakistan\u2019s interests remained paramount and urged social media …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":94897,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94893"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94893\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94913,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94893\/revisions\/94913"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}