FM Jilani condemns ‘genocide’ of Palestinians, asks Israel to honour UN resolutions

Celina Ali

Islamabad: Caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani has condemned the siege and killing of innocent people of Gaza Strip by the Israeli forces and urged the government to abide by the United Nations resolutions.

During a press conference here on Sunday, the caretaker minister urged the Israeli government not to target civil population.

Jilani expressed anguish at the killing of Palestinian women and children during Israeli forces ground and air attacks on civilian population.

He said Israel has been unleashing a reign of terror on Palestinians for the last more than six decades. “Israel is committing genocide of Palestinians.”

Pakistan has always supported Palestinians just cause for a state, he added.

Caretaker minister Jilani stressed a separate status of Palestine under the two-state policy as accepted by the international community with an independent state of Palestine having pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.

He categorically maintained that there was no change of Pakistan’s policy with regard to Israel, it would continue pursuing the same policy as adopted in the past and would continue in the future till Palestinians get their right to self-determination under the UNSC and OIC resolutions.

To a question regarding the humanitarian aid to besieged Palestinians, he said that they were in touch with the international community and the Muslim countries, but unfortunately, there was a complete siege of Gaza.

He said this aspect would be highlighted during the upcoming OIC executive committee meeting in which they would consider the coordinated response of the OIC member countries as to how to bring an end to the violence perpetrated by Israel and how to provide immediate humanitarian assistance to Palestinians.

Pakistan was ready to provide humanitarian assistance and had been in touch with the Egyptian authorities, he added. He said the OIC committee meeting would make a forceful case for the early resolution of the issue.

About caretaker Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar’s visit to Beijing to attend the Belt and Road Forum, Jilani said agreements on bilateral cooperation would be signed during meeting with Chinese officials.

“Kakar is visiting China on the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Qiang,” he continued.

He said the caretaker premier would also meet leaders of other nations attending the forum on Oct 17 and 18.

Jilani was of the view that the CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) would contribute to prosperity of countries in the region.

To a query, he advised not to heed propaganda about the CPEC, adding the railways project was the part of ongoing negotiation between the two sides and had been in the advanced stage and expressed the hope that an agreement in this regard would be concluded soon.

About the expulsion of illegal foreigners, he said the policy did not pertain to Afghans only, but it was for all the foreigners living illegally in Pakistan without legal documents.

He said Pakistan always supported Afghanistan in difficult times and there was an ongoing cooperation between the two countries in the economic and trade fields.

He termed his recent meeting with the Afghan interim foreign minister in Azerbaijan as very constructive.

The caretaker foreign minister said the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan had very close relations and coordinated positions and they always consulted with each other on important issues.

Both brotherly countries had close economic and defence cooperation and also had convergence on different strategic issues, he added.

Jilani criticised the Indian government of not allowing Pakistani spectators and journalists to visit and watch ICC World Cup matches.

He said it showed shortsightedness and was highly condemnable. “India has set a very wrong precedent and violated the international norms and the ICC charter.”

About his recent participation in ECO meeting in Azerbaijan, the caretaker foreign minister said the member countries reaffirmed their support to shared prosperity and connectivity.

He said Pakistan and Iran had road and railway corridor network and the land corridor between Iran and Azerbaijan would be another connectivity network that would connect Pakistan with the Central Asian Republics and Russia.

He said the people of Azerbaijan were very grateful for the people of Pakistan for their support.

To a question about the recovery of fake passports from Afghans, he said the ministry of interior was investigating the issue.