Pakistan, June 22 -- Pakistan has rarely entered a major international crisis with as much composure, purpose and consequence as it has in the US-Iran endgame. At Burgenstock, Islamabad was not waiting outside the room for others to decide the region's fate. It was in the room, alongside Qatar, turning a war that could have engulfed the Gulf into a negotiating process. In an international system that too often remembers Pakistan only through crisis, this was a diplomatic correction of considerable weight.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's presence at the summit, accompanied by Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir, gave Pakistan's role both political and security weight. Munir's sustained back-channel engagement and Qatar's para...