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Photos — The Serena Hotel and the Red Zone

Elevated view down Constitution Avenue, Islamabad, across the government district: President House, Supreme Court, National Assembly and Secretariat, with the twin towers of One Constitution Avenue at the far end and Rawal Lake behind.

All photos on this page are freely licensed from Wikimedia Commons and are credited below each description. None was taken during the April 2026 talks. They show the ground the cordon covered.

Constitution Avenue from above​

The picture at right looks down Constitution Avenue from the hills near Pir Sohawa, across the whole Red Zone. The Commons notes identify the President's House, the Supreme Court, the National Assembly and the Pakistan Secretariat. At the far end of the avenue are the twin towers of One Constitution Avenue, the residential tower beside the Serena that journalist Talat Hussain says was used to film the delegations. The Serena's low-rise buildings and gardens are next to those towers, with Rawal Lake beyond.

Photo: Zacharie Grossen, 3 August 2015, CC BY-SA 4.0 — Commons.

Arched interior corridor of the Islamabad Serena Hotel, photographed in 2010.

Inside the Serena​

An arched interior corridor of the Islamabad Serena Hotel, photographed in 2010. The picture shows the traditional Pakistani architecture of the building: arcades, carved detailing, and painted ceilings. The talks took place in rooms like this at one end of the lobby (The Hotel Itself). This is the only freely licensed photo of the Serena on Commons that shows the building rather than people.

Photo: atifullahkhan (Panoramio), 30 July 2010, CC BY 3.0 — Commons.

Parliament House, Islamabad, seen behind its perimeter gate and fencing across Constitution Avenue.

The perimeter on a normal day​

Parliament House stands behind its gate and fence on Constitution Avenue, at the opposite end of the avenue from the Serena. This is the Red Zone with no summit going on: gated, fenced, and guarded. During the talks, shipping containers, barbed wire and police lines were added on top of this.

Photo: Usman Ghani, 6 December 2004, CC BY-SA 3.0 — Commons.

Photos we are still looking for​

Freely licensed images of the following do not appear to exist yet. If you took or hold one and can license it, contact @HolonCitizen:

  • The Serena's exterior, main gate and entry checkpoint, set back from the buildings.
  • Barbed wire, containers and police lines around the hotel, April 9–12 or April 19–26, 2026.
  • The view of the Serena from One Constitution Avenue, which is the angle Talat Hussain describes.
  • The negotiating room at the end of the lobby and the triangular-table banquet hall that was prepared for a joint announcement.

News agencies (Reuters, AP, AFP, Getty) published many photos of the cordon and the delegations' arrival. They are copyrighted, so this site links to reporting instead of copying them. The tracking graphic that circulated with the phone claim is on The Phone Claim. The people who posted it called it a recreation.

More Red Zone photos (D-Chowk and the Supreme Court) are on The Red Zone, and the later Swiss venue is on the timeline.

This website's author is @HolonCitizen on X and YouTube/@HolonCitizen. Follow me there.