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WASHINGTON: Pakistan joined the international community in asking Israel to immediately halt the expansion of its unlawful presence in the occupied West Bank, hours before Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived in Washington to attend a US-sponsored international summit on Gaza today (Thursday).
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar made the call while delivering Pakistan’s national statement at a high-level United Nations Security Council (UNSC) briefing on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.
Pakistan told the UNSC there can be “no durable peace without justice” in the region, reaffirming unwavering support for the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and announcing its participation in a new diplomatic initiative aimed at advancing a two-state solution.
“There can be no durable peace without justice, no stability without accountability, and no sustainable solution without the realization of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination,” the deputy premier said in his address.
Just a day earlier, the Palestinian mission to the United Nations issued a joint statement by 85 nations, calling for the immediate reversal of the Israeli annexation of the occupied West Bank.
Also, the European Union (EU), Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Arab League and the foreign ministers of the eight-nation Muslim bloc condemned Israel for approving procedures for the registration and settlement of land ownership across extensive areas of the occupied West Bank. The foreign ministers reiterated their categorical rejection of all unilateral measures aimed at altering the legal, demographic, and historical status of the occupied Palestinian territory.
Ready to back peace initiatives
Highlighting Pakistan’s participation in the inaugural meeting of US President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” (BoP) in Washington on Feb 19, Deputy PM Dar said Pakistan was doing so with the objective of reinforcing ongoing diplomatic efforts for the resolution of the Palestinian issue.
“We engage in this process with the firm conviction that sustained diplomacy, anchored in international law and the UN Charter and guided by accountability, provides the only viable pathway to a just and lasting peace,” he said.
Reaffirming Islamabad’s political and moral position, the deputy prime minister said: “Pakistan’s solidarity with our Palestinian brothers and sisters and their just cause remains unwavering. We stand with them in their legitimate pursuit of right to self-determination, dignity and freedom.”
He underscored Pakistan’s readiness to support multiple peace initiatives, noting: “Pakistan is ready and willing to contribute to all diplomatic initiatives, including President Trump’s Peace Plan, the BoP, the High-Level Conference on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Global Alliance for the Two-State Solution, which must reinforce one another through coordinated and concrete implementation, in the interest of our shared objective of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the Middle East.”
