ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday reiterated a call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as he described Israeli actions in the Middle East as a “rogue behavior,” while offering archrival New Delhi to hold a dialogue for last peace in South Asia.
The Pakistan prime minister was speaking at the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, with global leaders in attendance. Sharif spoke about intensifying conflicts, violations of international law, humanitarian crises, terrorism, climate change and a number of other issues threatening the world.
The UNGA session, themed as “Better together: 80 years and more for peace, development and human rights,” comes in the backdrop of Israel’s nearly two-year war on Gaza, which has killed over 65,000 Palestinians since Oct. 2023, and its military actions in against other Middle Eastern states as well as raging conflicts elsewhere in the world.
Speaking of the situation in Gaza, he said the Israeli leadership has unleashed a shameful campaign against the innocent Palestinians in blind pursuit of its “nefarious goals,” which history will always remember as one of its darkest chapters, calling on the international community to find a path to ceasefire.
“For nearly 80 years, the Palestinians have courageously endured Israel’s brutal occupation of their homeland. In the West Bank, each passing day brings new brutality, illegal settlers who terrorize and kill with impunity, and nobody can challenge them and question them. And in Gaza, Israel’s genocidal onslaught has unleashed unspeakable terror upon women and children in a manner we have not witnessed in annals of history,” Sharif said.
“We must find a path to a ceasefire now and just now... Pakistan firmly supports the demand of the Palestinian people for the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state with pre-1967 borders and Al-Quds Sharif as its capital. Palestine can no longer remain under Israeli shackles. It must be liberated and liberated with full commitment and full force.”
The prime minister denounced Israel’s attack against Hamas leaders in Doha and said Tel Aviv’s continued violations of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of numerous countries were reflective of its ‘rogue behavior.”
“Pakistan stands unwaveringly with our brothers and sisters in Qatar,” he said. “We also support all efforts for a peaceful resolution of the we also support all efforts for a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict in line with the UN Charter to end human sufferings and global turmoil caused by this protected war.”
About Pakistan’s four-day military conflict with India in May, Sharif said New Delhi sought to “extract political gains” from a militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir’s Pahalgam, which killed 26 tourists in April. India blamed Pakistan for the attack, a charge denied by Islamabad.
“It [India] attacked our cities and targeted our innocent civilians. When our territorial integrity and national security were violated, our response was in accordance with the right of self-defense under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter,” he said.
“Our falcons [fighter pilots] took flight and etched their answer across the skies, resulting in seven of the Indian jets turned to scrap and dust. A decisive response to the aggressor that will echo through the annals of history.”
The four-day conflict, the deadliest between India and Pakistan in more than two decades, killed nearly 70 people on both sides before President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire on May 10.
“Though in a position of strength, Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire facilitated by President Donald Trump’s bold and visionary leadership. We express our deep appreciation to him and his team for their active role in bringing about the ceasefire. President Trump’s efforts for peace helped avert a more threatening war in South Asia,” Sharif said.
“Pakistan stands ready for a composite, comprehensive, and result-oriented dialogue with India on all outstanding issues.” The treaty ensures water for 80 percent of Pakistani farms from the Indus river system.
“South Asia requires, ladies and gentlemen, proactive rather than provocative leadership. India’s unilateral and illegal attempt to hold the Indus Water Treaty in abeyance defies the provisions of the treaty itself, as well as the norms of international law,” Sharif said.
“Pakistan has made it abundantly clear, and let there be no doubt, once again, in anybody’s mind, as I said last year in this hall, from this podium, we will definitely and ardently defend, inshallah, the inseparable right of our 240 million people on these waters. To us, any violation of this Indus Treaty represents an act of war.”
