Pakistan is once again at the centre of international diplomacy as Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand is expected to arrive in Islamabad for talks with the Pakistani leadership on the latest US-Iran situation, the 24NewsHD TV channel reported on Sunday.
According to the diplomatic sources, the discussions are expected to focus on the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, which is linked to efforts to restore peace and keep dialogue alive over the regional crisis.
Pakistan has been involved in facilitating Iran-US talks in Islamabad in recent months, and the international community reported that those talks ended without a breakthrough but left the door open to further negotiations.
According to diplomatic sources, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar will hold formal talks with Ms Anand, and meetings with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other senior officials are also expected.
Canada has previously said it was ready to support Islamabad talks, while Pakistan has continued to present itself as a mediator in the wider regional dispute.
The visit is also expected to include discussions on Pakistan-Canada bilateral economic relations, trade and Canadian cooperation in the social sector.
The broader engagement comes as both countries continue to maintain contact on shared priorities and regional developments.
Anita Indira Anand is a Canadian politician, lawyer and former academic who has been minister of foreign affairs since 2025.
A member of the Liberal Party, Anand was elected to the House of Commons in 2019 and is the member of Parliament (MP) for Oakville East.
Anita Indira Anand was born in Kentville, Nova Scotia, in 1967. Her parents were both Indian physicians; her mother, Saroj D Ram, was an anaesthesiologist, and her father, SV (Andy) Anand, was a general surgeon.
Her father was from Tamil Nadu, and her mother was from Punjab. Anita has two sisters; her elder sister, Gita Anand, is an employment lawyer in Toronto, and her younger sister Sonia Anand is a physician and researcher at McMaster University.
Her parents were followers of Mahatma Gandhi, and her father met him when her grandfather, VA Sundaram, was working with the Indian independence movement. Anand's parents immigrated to Canada in the early 1960s and settled in Kentville.
Reporter: Anwar Abbas