ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign office on Thursday applauded the country’s upper house of parliament for unanimously adopting a resolution against US President Donald Trump’s Middle East plan to address the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Describing the Senate as an esteemed national institution, the foreign office spokesperson, Aisha Farooqui, told Arab News: “The Senate represents the federation of Pakistan … We respect their opinions and resolutions.”

“This resolution is also respectable for us,” she added.

The Senate of Pakistan on Monday unanimously passed a resolution against President Trump’s newly unveiled plan, describing “the so-called ‘deal of the century’” as “an instrument of humiliating surrender for the Palestinians before the oppressor and the aggressor.”

“We renew our call for the establishment of a viable, independent and contiguous State of Palestine on the basis of internationally-agreed parameters, the pre-1967 borders and with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital,” the foreign office said in a statement on January 29 after the Middle East peace plan was announced by the US president.

Senator Mushtaq Ahmed of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, who presented the resolution, demanded Prime Minister Imran Khan and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to issue a clear and categorical condemnation of the US plan.

“As representatives of the people of Pakistan, they should declare Jerusalem as our red line,” Ahmed told Arab News on phone, adding that the resolution had rejected the American plan while highlighting the right of return for Palestinian refugees and demanding release of their prisoners from Israeli jails.

Discussing the reason why he tabled the resolution, he said that there was only a mild response from the Pakistani foreign office and government on Trump’s plan.

“The Turkish president categorically rejected this so-called deal of the century in Pakistani parliament during his visit, but Prime Minister Imran Khan did not reject it unequivocally which is quite unfortunate,” he said.

“This is not a peace plan,” he continued. “This is an occupation plan and surrender document. Some elements of the western media have described it as a real estate deal. It is in violation of international law and UN Security Council resolutions.”

According to the plan, he added, the state of Palestine would not be allowed to have its own security forces or manage its own borders.

Trump’s “deal of the century,” he noted, would only legalize more than 400,000 Israeli settlers.

It also upholds the idea of making Jerusalem Israel’s capital, he said.

“We will send this resolution to all Pakistani missions abroad and foreign missions in Pakistan along with the United Nations and other world bodies. We will also put pressure on the government to issue a strong condemnation of the American president’s plan in light of the unanimously passed resolution,” Ahmed said.