ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi met his Palestinian and Iraqi counterparts on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkey on Thursday, the Pakistani foreign office said on Friday.
The Forum, attended by top political leaders, diplomats, opinion makers and academics, is being held from June 18-20 in an Antalya resort on the coast of the Mediterranean.
During the meeting with Palestinian Foreign Minister Dr. Riyad Al-Maliki, “Qureshi reiterated Pakistan’s unwavering support for the Palestinian cause and underscored the importance of two-state solution based on pre-1967 borders under the relevant UNSC [United Nations Security Counsil] resolutions for sustainable peace in the region.”
The Israeli military said this week it had launched aircraft attacks in the Gaza Strip - the first since an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire ended 11 days of cross-border fighting last month.
In his meeting with the Palestinian leader, Qureshi also expressed strong concerns on the recent Israeli strikes against Gaza.
Maliki briefed Foreign Minister Qureshi on the latest situation in Palestine, conveying “deep appreciation on behalf of the Palestinian President and people of Palestine to the Foreign Minister for proactively taking up the case of Palestine at the UN General Assembly during the recent Israeli aggression against Gaza.”
Both foreign ministers discussed rising Islamophobia and agreed on the need to evolve a joint strategy to counter discrimination against all religious faiths.
Qureshi also extended an invitation to Maliki to visit Pakistan.
“Foreign Minister Maliki accepted the invitation and responded that he looked forward to visiting Pakistan in the near future,” the foreign office said.
Qureshi also met Iraqi Foreign Minister Dr. Fuad Hussein on the sidelines of the Forum on June 17.
“Foreign Minister Qureshi highlighted the importance of liberalizing the visa regime for facilitating Pakistani Zaireen [pilgrims] visiting the religious sites in Iraq,” the foreign office said. “Both Foreign Ministers also exchanged best practices in promoting religious tourism.”
Pakistani foreign minister meets Palestinian, Iraqi counterparts at Antalya Diplomacy Forum
https://arab.news/w7pbj
Pakistani foreign minister meets Palestinian, Iraqi counterparts at Antalya Diplomacy Forum
- The Forum, attended by top political leaders, diplomats, opinion makers and academics, is being held from June 18-20
- Qureshi reiterated Pakistan’s unwavering support for Palestinian cause, underscored importance of two-state solution
Imran Khan’s party shutdown draws mixed response; government calls it ‘ineffective’
- Ex-PM Khan’s PTI party had called for a ‘shutter-down strike’ to protest Feb. 8, 2024 general election results
- While businesses reportedly remained closed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, they continued as normal elsewhere
ISLAMABAD: A nationwide “shutter-down strike” called by former prime minister Imran Khan’s party drew a mixed response in Pakistan on Sunday, underscoring political polarization in the country two years after a controversial general election.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PIT) opposition party had urged the masses to shut businesses across the country to protest alleged rigging on the second anniversary of the Feb. 8, 2024 general election.
Local media reported a majority of businesses remained closed in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, governed by the PTI, while business continued as normal in other provinces as several trade associations distanced themselves from the strike call.
Arab News visited major markets in Islamabad’s G-6, G-9, I-8 and F-6 sectors, as well as commercial hubs in Rawalpindi, which largely remained operational on Sunday, a public holiday when shops, restaurants and malls typically remain open in Pakistan.
“Pakistan’s constitution says people will elect their representatives. But on 8th February 2024, people were barred from exercising their voting right freely,” Allama Raja Nasir Abbas Jafri, the PTI opposition leader in the Senate, said at a protest march near Islamabad’s iconic Faisal Mosque.
Millions of Pakistanis voted for national and provincial candidates during the Feb. 8, 2024 election, which was marred by a nationwide shutdown of cellphone networks and delayed results, leading to widespread allegations of election manipulation by the PTI and other opposition parties. The caretaker government at the time and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) both rejected the allegations.
Khan’s PTI candidates contested the Feb. 8 elections as independents after the party was barred from the polls. They won the most seats but fell short of the majority needed to form a government, which was made by a smattering of rival political parties led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The government insists the polling was conducted transparently and that Khan’s party was not denied a fair chance.
Authorities in the Pakistani capital deployed a heavy police contingent on the main road leading to the Faisal Mosque on Sunday. Despite police presence and the reported arrest of some PTI workers, Jafri led local PTI members and dozens of supporters who chanted slogans against the government at the march.
“We promise we will never forget 8th February,” Jafri said.
The PTI said its strike call was “successful” and shared videos on official social media accounts showing closed shops and markets in various parts of the country.
The government, however, dismissed the protest as “ineffective.”
“The public is fed up with protest politics and has strongly rejected PTI’s call,” Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on X.
“It’s Sunday, yet there is still hustle and bustle.”
Ajmal Baloch, All Pakistan Traders Association president, said they neither support such protest calls, nor prevent individuals from closing shops based on personal political affiliation.
“It’s a call from a political party and we do not close businesses on calls of any political party,” Baloch told Arab News.
“We only give calls of strike on issues related to traders.”
Khan was ousted from power in April 2022 after what is widely believed to be a falling out with the country’s powerful generals. The army denies it interferes in politics. Khan has been in prison since August 2023 and faces a slew of legal challenges that ruled him out of the Feb. 8 general elections and which he says are politically motivated to keep him and his party away from power.
In Jan. 2025, an accountability court convicted Khan and his wife in the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust land corruption case, sentencing him to 14 years and her to seven years after finding that the trust was used to acquire land and funds in exchange for alleged favors. The couple denies any wrongdoing.
