ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s political parties on Wednesday reiterated their longstanding position on the Palestine dispute, saying they would never recognize Israel as an independent state following an explanation from Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on the subject a day earlier in the National Assembly.
“Pakistan consistently supports a two-state solution with the pre-1967 Palestinian borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif [Jerusalem] as its capital,” the foreign minister said in response to a point of order raised by an opposition lawmaker, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, in parliament on Tuesday.
Asif had demanded the foreign minister to clarify the government’s position on the issue of Palestine and Kashmir, the two internationally recognized disputed territories for decades.
“Pakistan has neither changed nor deviated from its historical stance on the issue of Palestine,” the foreign minister said, adding that the ruling party’s position on the disputed territory was the same as that of the opposition parties, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
Islamabad has always supported the Palestinian cause for a free and independent state in a contested region of the world that is considered sacred by both Muslims and Jews. More than 135 United Nations member countries recognize Palestine as an independent state, but Israel and some other countries, including the United States, do not make this distinction. On the other hand, many Muslim countries including Pakistan do not recognize Israel as an independent state.
“It is part of our faith to stand by the Palestinians against Israeli oppression, and we’ll continue doing this without any hesitation,” Senator Raja Zafar-ul-Haq, chairman PML-N, told Arab News on Wednesday.
He said that there was a “national consensus” on the Palestinian issue and “no government or political party can deviate from it.”
Recalling the historical importance of the issue, Haq recalled that the founder of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, fully supported the Palestinians in his numerous speeches and statements. “The issue of Palestine is part of our basic ideology, and we are bound to protect interests of the Palestinians,” he said.
In a bid to resolve the decades-old conflict, US President Donald Trump’s “deal of the century” plan, announced on Jan. 28, referred to Jerusalem as “Israel’s undivided capital” and recognized Israeli sovereignty over large parts of the West Bank.
The plan drew widespread criticism from the Arab world and was rejected by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which urged “all member states not to engage with this plan or to cooperate with the US administration in implementing it in any form.”
Sehar Kamran, a senior PPP leader, said that her party had always stood with the Palestinians and would expect the government to raise the issue at all international forums including the United Nations.
“We are firmly supporting the Palestinian cause, and there is no way that any political party, let alone the PPP, can think of recognizing Israel as an independent state,” she told Arab News on Wednesday.
Kamran urged the government to stand by its position on Palestine “as per the aspirations of the people of Pakistan.” “It’s good to know that the foreign minister has eloquently rebuffed rumors about recognition of Israel,” she added.
The country’s religio-political parties also supported the government’s stance of a two-state solution with Jerusalem as Palestine’s capital.
“There are no ifs and buts when it comes to Palestine,” Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali, a Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) lawmaker, told Arab News on Wednesday. “The whole parliament and the people of Pakistan will continue to support our Palestinian brothers and sisters in their just struggle for freedom and civil rights,” he said.
Pakistan supports Palestinian state with Jerusalem as capital
https://arab.news/n3per
Pakistan supports Palestinian state with Jerusalem as capital
- There is a ‘national consensus’ in the country to support the Palestinian cause, says the PML-N chairman
- Foreign Minister says the ruling party’s position on Palestine was in line with the opposition parties
Pakistan rejects India’s ‘irresponsible assertions’ after FM Jaishankar’s ‘bad neighbors’ remarks
- Indian FM Jaishankar accused Pakistan of fomenting militancy, backed New Delhi’s decision to put Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance
- Islamabad calls the remarks an attempt to deflect attention from India’s ‘troubling record as a neighbor,’ vows to safeguard rights
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday rejected “irresponsible assertions” made by Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar after his remarks about “bad neighbors” and the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) between the two countries.
Jaishankar mentioned about “bad neighbors” at an event in Madras on Friday and said that New Delhi had a right to defend itself. “When you have bad neighbors... if you look to the one to the West, if a country decides that they will deliberately, persistently, unrepentantly continue with terrorism, we have a right to defend our people,” he was quoted as saying by The Hindu newspaper.
The remarks came months after New Delhi blamed Pakistan for a militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir and conducted missile strikes inside Pakistan. Islamabad, which denied involvement in the Kashmir attack, responded to the strikes, leading to a four-day military conflict that saw the use of armed drones, fighter jets and artillery between the neighbors in May.
In a statement, Pakistani foreign office spokesman Tahir Andrabi said Islamabad firmly rejects the irresponsible assertions made by the Indian external affairs minister, describing the remarks as an attempt to deflect attention from India’s own “troubling record as a neighbor that promotes terrorism and contributes to regional instability.”
“India’s documented involvement in promoting terrorist activities in the region, particularly in Pakistan, is well known. The case of Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav remains a stark example of organized, state-sponsored terrorism directed against Pakistan,” he said.
“Equally concerning are recurring instances of extraterritorial killings, sabotage through proxies, and covert support to terrorist networks.”
Jadhav, an Indian navy officer who Islamabad said had been working with Indian spy agency, RAW, when Pakistani agencies arrested him in Balochistan in 2016. He was later sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged espionage. India disputes the conviction and has challenged it at the International Court of Justice.
Pakistan and India routinely accuse each other of supporting militant groups waging attacks against the other. The two countries have fought multiple wars, including two of them over the disputed region of Kashmir, since their independence from British rule in 1947. Both rule the region in part but claim it in full.
Jaishankar also spoke on Friday about the IWT that divides control of the Indus basin rivers between the neighbors and ensures water for 80 percent of Pakistani farms. India announced in April, following the Kashmir attack, that it was putting the 1960 World Bank-mediated treaty in abeyance.
“Many years ago, we agreed to a water-sharing arrangement — the belief was it was gesture of goodwill — because of good neighborliness we were doing it … but if you have decades of terrorism, there is no good neighborliness and you don’t get the benefit of good neighborliness,” Jaishankar was quoted as saying.
Pakistan foreign office spokesman Andrabi said the IWT is an international agreement concluded in good faith and at a considerable cost.
“Any unilateral violation of the Treaty by India would undermine regional stability and call into question its credibility as a state that claims to respect international legal obligations,” he said.
“Pakistan will take all necessary measures to safeguard its legitimate rights under the Treaty.”
