ISLAMABAD: Pakistan applauded the European Union’s decision to support the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) reconstruction plan for Gaza at the United Nations on Tuesday, calling such multilateral cooperation “critical” at a difficult time in international politics.
Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Munir Akram, made the remarks as he welcomed the EU’s engagement with the UN, from its continued support for the world body’s annual budget to its sustained commitment to peacekeeping operations and peace-building activities.
Arab leaders unanimously rejected US President Donald Trump’s plan to permanently uproot more than 2 million Palestinians from Gaza and turn the region into an international beach resort earlier this month. Instead, they backed an Egyptian-led reconstruction initiative worth $53 billion, which was later upheld by the OIC in a special session held in Jeddah.
“In a statement in the Security Council meeting on the EU’s engagement with the UN today, Ambassador Munir Akram, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative, lauded the EU for its humanitarian support to the suffering people of Gaza and the West Bank, as well as its support to UNRWA [United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees],” said an official statement circulated after the meeting.
“He said that Pakistan also welcomes the EU’s support to the Arab and now the OIC plan for reconstruction of Gaza and peace in Palestine based on the Two-State solution.”
The Pakistani diplomat said his country wanted all conflicts, including the war in Ukraine, to be resolved in accordance with the principles of the UN Charter, which he said must be applied universally and consistently.
“At a time when international development cooperation is under immense stress, the EU’s sustained support, including to UN agencies, funds and programs, will be critical,” Akram was quoted as saying in the statement.
He also highlighted Pakistan’s relations with the EU, describing them as “robust, comprehensive and wide-ranging.” The EU, as a unit, remains Pakistan’s largest trade and investment partner, he noted.
“The GSP [Generalized Scheme of Preferences] Plus has played an important role in the growth of Pakistan-EU trade and has served as a win-win model for economic cooperation,” he said, referring to the preferential trade arrangement that has boosted Pakistan’s exports to Europe.
Akram also welcomed EU investments under the EU’s Global Gateway Strategy in renewable energy, digital infrastructure, education, water and sanitation and disaster management, and expressed hope for further opportunities through the Horizon Europe Program.
“We must all together reaffirm our commitment to international law, equality and a global order underpinned by the UN Charter to promote durable peace, sustainable development and inclusive growth,” the Pakistani envoy said.
Pakistan welcomes EU support for OIC’s Gaza reconstruction plan at UN
https://arab.news/wjfs3
Pakistan welcomes EU support for OIC’s Gaza reconstruction plan at UN
- Ambassador Munir Akram says his country wants all conflicts to be resolved within the UN framework
- He hails Pakistan’s ‘wide-ranging’ relations with Europe that have helped his country grow economically
Four people, including two policemen, killed in twin blasts in northwest Pakistan
- Attack on police van in South Waziristan and motorbike-mounted IED in Lakki Marwat hits KP province
- Violence comes amid a surge in militancy and cross-border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD: At least four people, including two policemen, were killed and about 20 others wounded in two separate blasts in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Saturday, officials said, the latest violence in a region grappling with militant violence.
One explosion targeted a police patrol van in Wana, the main town of South Waziristan district near the Afghan border, while another blast caused by explosives mounted on a motorbike struck a market area in Lakki Marwat district, according to police officials and preliminary reports.
The incidents come amid rising militant violence in Pakistan’s northwest, where authorities say armed groups operate from across the border in Afghanistan, straining relations between Islamabad and the Taliban administration in Kabul, with both sides engaged in a military conflict since last month.
“The control room received information in the evening about a bomb blast targeting a police van in Wana Bazaar,” a police official in the area, who did not want to be named, confirmed while speaking to Arab News over the phone.
He confirmed two deaths in the incident while saying more than 25 people had been injured.
The official said rescue teams responded promptly and shifted three seriously injured people to a nearby hospital in Wana.
In another incident during the day in Lakki Marwat, an improvised explosive device attached to a motorbike exploded near shops.
“Two people have been killed and about 10 have been injured in an IED blast in Lakki Marwat,” Raza Khan, Deputy Superintendent of Police in Bannu, told Arab News.
“The deceased are identified as Shoaib Ur Rehman and Furqan Ullah,” he added. “Shoaib, the owner of the shop, was the brother of the Lakki peace committee head.”
Peace committees in the region are informal, community-based groups that work with security forces to report militant activity and maintain order, making their members frequent targets of attacks.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the attacks and expressed grief over the incidents.
“I strongly condemn the blast near a police patrolling vehicle in Wana Bazaar,” Naqvi said in a statement, confirming the killing of four people, including two police personnel.
“Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police are on the front line in the war against terrorism,” he said, noting the force had made “unforgettable sacrifices” in the fight against militant groups.
Militant violence has surged in Pakistan’s border regions in recent months, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces.
Islamabad has repeatedly accused the Afghan Taliban government of allowing militant groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), to operate from Afghan territory — a charge Kabul denies — as cross-border tensions between the two neighbors have escalated.
