ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will highlight Israeli ‘aggression’ in Palestine at the next summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation scheduled to be held in Makkah during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, the foreign office said on Thursday.
Israel started building its settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem in the wake of the Six Day War in June 1967. During the run-up to elections this year, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to annex all these settlements — built in violation of international law — if he won another term in office, which he has.
“Pakistan remains on the forefront of supporting our Palestinian brethren in all OIC regular meetings,” foreign office spokesman Dr. Mohammad Faisal said at a press briefing. “We have supported resolutions on Palestine issue at the platform of OIC which strongly condemns the Israeli aggression.”
He said as a Coordinator of the OIC Group at Geneva, Islamabad had tabled five resolutions on the Palestinian issue each year: on the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem; Palestine’s right to self-determination; Israeli settlements in Palestine and in the occupied Syrian Golan; human rights in the occupied Syrian Golan; and ensuring accountability and justice for all violations of international law in the occupied territories, including East Jerusalem, in United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions.
Describing Pakistan’s position on the Israel-Palestine conflict, Faisal said only the “establishment of a viable, independent and contiguous State of Palestine, on the basis of internationally agreed parameters, the pre-1967 borders, and with Al-Quds and Al-Sharif as its capital” would guarantee sustainable peace in West Asia.
Last month Pakistan 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 has 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.
Last month UN war crimes investigators called on Israel to stop its snipers using lethal force against protesters on the border with Gaza, as the March 30 anniversary approached of the start of demonstrations there last year in which 189 Palestinians were killed.
Pakistan to discuss Israeli aggression against Palestine at next OIC summit
Pakistan to discuss Israeli aggression against Palestine at next OIC summit
- Foreign office says Pakistan has been supporting Palestine at all meetings of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation
- Says only a viable, independent and contiguous state of Palestine can guarantee peace in West Asia
Pakistan rice exports slump 40% as India’s return hits pricing power
- Statistics show non-Basmati shipments have fallen over 50 percent in July-January period
- Government offers 9 percent tax drawback on premium Basmati exports to support sector
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s rice exports fell 40.5 percent to $1.31 billion in the first seven months of the fiscal year, official data showed on Tuesday, as India’s return to the global market squeezed Islamabad’s market share and pricing power.
According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), non-Basmati exports dropped 50.8 percent to $827.8 million, with volumes falling to 2.0 million tons from 3.15 million tons a year ago. Basmati exports declined 6.62 percent to $477.7 million, with volumes easing to 436,484 tons from 487,278 tons.
The Ministry of National Food Security told a parliamentary committee in two separate meetings in December and January that India’s re-entry into the global rice market was a key factor behind the decline, saying increased Indian supplies had made Pakistani rice less competitive.
Officials told lawmakers that India benefits from free trade agreements and provides substantial support to its rice sector, putting additional pressure on Pakistani exporters.
In response, the Ministry of Commerce last month issued a notification under the “Drawback of Local Taxes and Levies for Rice Order, 2026,” allowing a rebate of 9 percent of the free-on-board (FOB) value for Basmati exports priced above $750 per metric ton.
The government said the measure, announced on January 23, aims to ease liquidity pressures on exporters and improve competitiveness.
While PBS data for July-January shows a 40.5 percent decline, figures from the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for July-December show an even steeper 47 percent drop to $973 million from $1.82 billion in the same period last year, reflecting a deficit of over $800 million.
Industry representatives say they are now focusing on market diversification to counter the slowdown.
“Currently Basmati is mainly exported to Middle East and EU. Non-Basmati is exported to Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and African countries,” Malik Faisal Jahangir, chairman of the Pakistan Rice Exporters Association, told Arab News last week.
“For the new markets for our non-basmati rice exports, we are looking to increase our volumes to China, Philippines, Indonesia and Bangladesh,” he added.
