ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Wednesday rejected US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights and said the move was “unfortunate.”
In a dramatic shift from decades of US policy, Trump on Monday signed a proclamation officially granting US recognition of the Golan as Israeli territory.
Israel captured the Golan in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1981 in a move the UN Security Council has declared as unlawful.
“This is the most unfortunate development, we reject it,” Pakistani information minister Fawad Chaudhry told Arab News. “Israel has illegally occupied Golan and there is no moral or legal justification for their claim to it, or for what the US has done.”
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait have already criticized Trump’s move.
“It will have significant negative effects on the peace process in the Middle East and the security and stability of the region,” said a statement on Saudi state news agency SPA.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who has refused to talk to the United States since Trump ordered the US embassy moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, expressed his “absolute rejection.”
European members of the United Nations Security Council — France, Britain, Germany, Belgium and Poland — have also said they did not recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the lands it has occupied since June 1967, including the Golan Heights.
“This is part of the expansion doctrine of Israel and it is unfortunate that the United States is backing it,” Chaudhry said. “This is the kind of injustice that breeds extremism, and leads to greater tussle between civilizations and people.”
Responding to reports that Trump’s call for recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights was a boost for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu two weeks before he went into an election, Chaudhry said that as a “global superpower” it was important that the United States “not take decisions based on petty political games.”
For many Arabs, Trump’s move has dashed hopes of a negotiated peace settlement between Israel and the Palestinians and raised doubts that Washington is a neutral arbiter. Many also fear the decision could tempt other powers to annex land, undermine a US Middle East peace plan and push Israel back into conflict with its Arab neighbors.
“The responsibility on the US as a superpower is global,” Chaudhry said. “They are reducing the chances of a safe, secure and bright future for the world and especially the Arab world by taking such decisions.”
Pakistan rejects US recognition of Golan Heights as Israeli territory
Pakistan rejects US recognition of Golan Heights as Israeli territory
- Calls President Trump’s decision “the most unfortunate development”
- European nations, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Gulf countries have already criticized Trump’s move
Azad Kashmir President Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry dies at 71
- Pakistan prime minister praises Chaudhry’s advocacy for the Kashmir cause
- AJK Presidential Office says he died in Islamabad after a prolonged illness
ISLAMABAD: Barrister Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry, the president of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and a veteran Kashmiri politician, died in Islamabad on Saturday after a prolonged illness, according to an official statement from the AJK Presidential Office. He was 71.
His funeral prayers will be held on Sunday at 4 p.m. at the Mirpur Cricket Stadium, the statement said.
Chaudhry, who served multiple times as prime minister and opposition leader in AJK before becoming president in 2021, was one of the region’s most prominent political figures and a long-time advocate of the Kashmir cause at international forums.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed deep sorrow over Chaudhry’s death in a statement.
“Barrister Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry was a farsighted political leader who spent his entire life in the service of the people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir,” Sharif said in a statement issued by his office.
Born on August 9, 1955, in Chichian, Mirpur, Chaudhry received his early education in his native village, completed his matriculation from Cantonment Public School Rawalpindi and graduated from Gordon College Rawalpindi before traveling to Britain, where he earned a law degree from Lincoln’s Inn. He returned to Pakistan in 1983 and entered active politics.
Over his political career, Chaudhry was elected nine times from his Mirpur constituency and held several senior positions, including prime minister of AJK in 1996 and opposition leader in the legislative assembly in 2001. He also led multiple political parties in AJK, including the Muslim Conference, the Peoples Party AJK chapter and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf AJK chapter.
The AJK Presidential Office said Chaudhry played a central role in raising the Kashmir issue globally, addressing international institutions, foreign governments and parliaments, and leading protests and demonstrations in cities including London, New York, Brussels and Berlin. It said he was the only AJK leader to have been permitted to visit Indian-administered Kashmir, where he addressed a public gathering at Srinagar’s Lal Chowk and met senior Kashmiri leaders.
Sharif said Chaudhry “raised a strong voice against Indian oppression of the Kashmiri people and in support of the Kashmir cause.”
“His service to the Kashmiri people and his struggle for the Kashmir cause will always be remembered in history,” he added.
