Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Sunday that Pakistan believed the recognition of the so-called \u201cSomaliland\u201d as an independent state by Israel was an act of \u201cpolitical aggression that sets a perilous precedent, threatening peace and security in the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea region, and beyond\u201d.<\/p>\n
Dar said this while addressing the extraordinary session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation\u2019s Council of Foreign Ministers in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
His statement follows a joint statement by the OIC, which initiated its 22nd extraordinary session in Jeddah on Saturday. The moot has been convened against the backdrop of Israel recognising Somaliland as an independent and sovereign state, with Soma\u00adliland\u2019s president, Abdira\u00adhman Mohamed Abdul\u00adlahi, saying his state will join the Abraham Accords.<\/p>\n
Later, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar visited Somaliland, condemned by Somalia as an \u201cunauthorised incursion\u201d.<\/p>\n
Dar expressed Pakistan\u2019s \u201cunwavering support for the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Somalia\u201d in his address today.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe strongly condemn the illegal and unlawful recognition by Israel of the Somaliland region of the Federal Republic of Somalia and the subsequent unwarranted and highly provocative visit of its foreign minister to Somaliland,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He added that Pakistan also voiced its firm support for Somalia and condemned Israel\u2019s actions during the UN Security Council\u2019s briefing on the issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe identify this development as a direct assault on Somalia\u2019s internationally recognised borders, which constitutes a flagrant violation of international law,\u201d Dar said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe principle of state sovereignty and territorial integrity constitutes a peremptory norm of international law from which no deviation or derogation is permitted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dar called the internationally-recognised borders of Somalia \u201csacrosanct and inviolable\u201d and said that the Somaliland region remained an \u201cintegral, inseparable and inalienable part of Somalia\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo external actor has either the legal standing or the moral authority to alter that fundamental reality,\u201d he said. \u201cAny act, statement or recognition thereof by a state or an external entity regarding any part of the Federal Republic of Somalia should therefore be considered null and void, producing no political or legal effects.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added, \u201cWe believe that such recognition of an integral part of a sovereign state is not a diplomatic act, but an act of political aggression that sets a perilous precedent, threatening peace and security in the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea region, and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n
The foreign minister added that Pakistan joined the group of OIC countries in \u201cunequivocally rejecting the unlawful Israeli move\u201d through the joint statement released in the immediate aftermath of the supposed Israeli recognition of \u2018Somaliland\u2019.<\/p>\n
The joint statement termed the recognition of \u2018parts of states\u2019 a violation of the cardinal principles of international law and the UN Charter and noted the Israeli action\u2019s potential \u201cserious repercussions\u201d for the Horn of Africa region, the Red Sea region and for international security as a whole, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe OIC and the wider international community\u2019s firm rejection of this unlawful overture by Israel is, therefore, vital so that the impudent Israeli act does not set a precedent for other countries,\u201d Dar added.<\/p>\n
He said that the developments in the region were \u201cparticularly alarming at a time when Somalia is demonstrating encouraging and tangible progress on its political and institutional trajectory\u201d, pointing out that the Federal Republic of Somalia had made notable strides in national reconciliation, constitutional reform and the revitalisation of state institutions.<\/p>\n
\u201cPositive trends in the financial sector, particularly the efforts related to economic legislation and the move towards an inclusive one-person-one-vote election, represent important steps towards consolidating Somalian democracy and stability,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese gains reflect a Somali-owned and Somali-led path towards political reconciliation and cooperation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Sunday that Pakistan believed the recognition of the so-called \u201cSomaliland\u201d as an independent state by Israel was an act of \u201cpolitical aggression that sets a perilous precedent, threatening peace and security in the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea region, and beyond\u201d. Dar said this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15135,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15134"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15136,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15134\/revisions\/15136"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}