ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, will visit New York on Wednesday to participate in a high-level United Nations Security Council (UNSC) briefing on the situation in Palestine, the Pakistani foreign ministry said.
The development comes days after Israel’s move to approve land registration in the West Bank for the first time since 1967, which is likely to make it easier for Jewish settlers to buy land and ultimately annex the area, as well as Israeli ceasefire violations in Gaza.
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Indonesia, Egypt and Türkiye have condemned the Israeli move, saying it was meant to accelerate illegal settlement activity, land confiscation and applying unlawful Israeli sovereignty over Palestinian territory.
Dar will reaffirm Pakistan’s principled and consistent position on Palestine during the UNSC briefing, which will be presided over by United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper in her capacity as president of the Security Council.
“He (Dar) will reiterate Pakistan’s strong opposition of Israel’s recent illegal decisions to expand its control over the West Bank, emphasize the need for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, full implementation of Security Council resolution 2803, scaled-up humanitarian assistance, and the early commencement of Gaza’s recovery and reconstruction,” the Pakistan foreign office said on Tuesday.
The UNSC resolution 2803, adopted on Nov. 17, endorsed President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza. Under the plan unveiled by the White House in Oct., Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas have agreed to a framework in which a Palestinian technocratic administration would operate under the oversight of an international board during a transitional period.
Dar will underscore Pakistan’s continued engagement with international and regional partners, including the Group of Eight Arab and Islamic countries and the United States, in support of a just and lasting peace, anchored in international law, leading to the realization of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, according to the Pakistani foreign ministry.
He will reiterate Islamabad’s call for the establishment of an “independent, sovereign and contiguous Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital,” it added.
The Pakistani deputy PM will also hold bilateral meetings with counterparts to discuss matters of mutual interest on the margins of the visit.
