ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia on Monday reiterated its rejection of a recent announcement by the United States that it would no longer consider Jewish settlements in the West Bank as unlawful, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Last week, Pakistan also reiterated its position on ‘illegal’ Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory and rejected a statement by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo abandoning the decades-old US position that settlements in Israeli-occupied territory were “inconsistent with international law” and reversing a stand taken under President Jimmy Carter in 1978.
Israel started building settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the wake of the Six-Day War in June 1967.
In a speech at an extraordinary session of the Arab League Council held in Cairo, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, reaffirmed his country’s stance on Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
“My government announced a few days ago that Israel’s construction of settlements is contrary to the resolutions of international legitimacy and international law,” the foreign minister said, adding that the new position was an obstacle to the two-state solution and stood in the way of achieving peace in the Middle East.
The minister said the Palestinian issue was a foremost issue for Arabs and Muslims and Saudi Arabia’s position toward it had always been consistent. He added that the Kingdom had spared no effort in supporting the Palestinian people, and believed in the justice of their cause, which required the intervention of the international community.
The Kingdom would continue to support the Palestinian cause until the Palestinian people attained their rights, especially the establishment of an independent state with East Al-Quds as its capital, in accordance with the Arab Peace Initiative and relevant international resolutions, the minister said.
On Thursday, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Dr. Muhammed Faisal said Islamabad considered all the Jewish settlements in the West Bank “illegal under international law,” adding that the US administration’s endorsement legitimizing the settlements would hamper the viability of the two states solution and prospects of lasting peace in the region.
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan reject US backing of Jewish settlements in Palestine
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan reject US backing of Jewish settlements in Palestine
- Last week Secretary of State Pompeo said US would no longer consider Jewish settlements in the West Bank ‘unlawful’
- Israel’s construction of settlements “contrary to resolutions of international legitimacy and international law,” Saudi foreign minister says
Bangladesh treads carefully as it explores closer defense ties with Pakistan
- Air force chiefs of Pakistan and Bangladesh discussed potential defense pact last week
- Dhaka says plan to procure fighter jets still in early stages, discussions ongoing with several countries
DHAKA: Bangladesh appears to be moving with caution as Dhaka and Islamabad forge closer ties and explore a potential defense deal, experts said on Friday.
Following decades of acrimonious ties, relations between Bangladesh and Pakistan have been growing since a student-led uprising ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2024.
Talks on a potential defense deal covering the sale of Pakistan’s JF-17 fighter jets to Dhaka emerged after Bangladesh’s Air Chief Marshal Hasan Mahmood Khan visit to Rawalpindi last week, where he met with his Pakistani counterpart Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, Pakistan’s chief of defense forces.
Bangladesh’s military media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations, said the procurement of fighter jets for the Bangladesh Air Force is “in the very rudimentary level,” and currently “under an evaluation process.”
“The evaluation process will determine which country’s offer proves befitting for us. The Air Chief’s visit to Pakistan is part of the evaluation process … earlier he visited China, Italy (too),” ISPR Director Lt. Col. Sami Ud Dowla Chowdhury told Arab News.
“Discussions are underway with different countries. Nothing concrete has come yet.”
Talks between the high-ranking military officials are the latest development in Bangladesh-Pakistan ties, which have included resumption of direct trade for the first time since the 1971 war and the expected launch of a regular route from Dhaka to Karachi at the end of this month, following over a decade of suspension.
Though efforts to expand relations can be seen from both sides, the current interim government of Bangladesh led by economist and Nobel Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus has been “showing some kind of pragmatism,” said Prof. Delwar Hossain of Dhaka University’s international relations department.
“Bangladesh is stepping very cautiously in comparison with the advancement from the Pakistan side. Bangladesh is trying to make a balanced approach,” he told Arab News.
“The present government is always saying that the development of a relationship with Pakistan doesn’t necessarily mean that Bangladesh is moving toward a particular camp. Rather, Bangladesh is interested in having a balanced relationship with all the great powers.”
Trade and economy are “naturally” more preferable areas of cooperation for Dhaka, Hossain said, adding that “we need more time to determine” how far military cooperation will be expanded.
Ishfaq Ilahi Choudhury, a defense expert and retired air officer of Bangladesh Air Force, said that Bangladesh is “very much in need of advanced aircraft” because its military has not procured new fighter jets in at least two decades.
“Air frigate fighters are badly needed for the Bangladesh Air Force. We had some F-7 produced by China, but they stopped producing these fighters nowadays. Here, Pakistan can be a source for our fighter jets, but it involves … geopolitics,” he told Arab News, alluding to how Dhaka’s defense ties with Pakistan may be perceived by its archrival neighbor India.
Pakistan’s JF-17 fighter jets, a multi-role combat aircraft jointly developed with China, has drawn international interest following its success last May, when Pakistani and Indian forces engaged in their worst fighting since 1999.
Islamabad said it shot down several Indian fighter jets during the aerial combat, a claim Indian officials later acknowledged after initially denying any losses, but without specifying the number of jets downed.
“We shouldn’t also forget that both India and Pakistan are at each other’s foot. Here, our friendship with Pakistan shouldn’t go at the cost of our friendship with India,” Choudhury said.
“With this (potential) defense purchase deal with Pakistan, we have to remain very cautious so that it proves sustainable in the long term.”
