Pakistan and Qatar agree to expand internal security cooperation in Doha talks

Pakistan and Qatar have agreed to expand their security partnership and strengthen cooperation on internal security, the Ministry of Interior said on Tuesday 20 October after Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, in Doha. Dawn and Geo News carried the ministry's statement.

The commander of Qatar's Internal Security Force (Lekhwiya) also attended, The Express Tribune reported.

What was agreed

The statement said the meeting "reaffirmed the commitment to strengthening bilateral cooperation between the two interior ministries". The two sides also discussed the regional situation and peace and stability. The ministry did not list specific projects, a memorandum or a timeline, so for now this is a political commitment rather than a signed agreement.

What each side said:

• Naqvi: Pakistan and Qatar "are working together for regional peace and stability", and Islamabad will keep working with Doha on shared interests, especially internal security.
• Sheikh Khalifa: Qatar "attached great importance" to its relations with Pakistan.

This was the two ministers' second meeting in Doha in under three months: they last met there on 28 July, also on security cooperation.

The Global Security Forum and Iran

Naqvi was in Doha for the 8th Global Security Forum, which he addressed on Monday. He said Pakistan had done everything possible to bring Washington and Tehran to the table and that "lasting peace cannot be secured in a single meeting". He credited Qatar, which organised the Lake Lucerne talks in Switzerland with Pakistan, saying: "In the diplomacy of our time, when others chose sides, Qatar chose to keep talking." He also called for more intelligence-sharing and joint work against terrorism.

The Doha meeting came as Pakistan's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, headed to Tehran on the same mediation track: see Asim Munir's Tehran visit.

Why it matters in Pakistan

Qatar is one of Pakistan's main LNG suppliers and home to a large Pakistani workforce whose remittances support families across the country. If you send money home from Qatar, our currency converter shows the rupee value at today's rates.

We will update this story if the ministries announce a formal agreement.