Pakistan will no recognition of Israel: FO

Islamabad: Pakistan on Thursday reiterated that there could be no recognition of Israel until a just settlement of Palestine dispute, rubbishing the speculations on the issue.

“Let me reiterate that there is no change in Pakistan’s principled position on the issue. The recognition of Israel is not under consideration,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said in the weekly press briefing.

He said Prime Minister Imran Khan had already made it clear that unless a just settlement of the Palestine issue, satisfactory to the Palestinian people, was found, Pakistan could not recognize Israel.

He said for just and lasting peace, it was imperative to have a two-state solution in accordance with the relevant United Nations and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) resolutions, with the pre-1967 borders, and Al-Quds Al-Sharif as the capital of a viable, independent and contiguous Palestinian state.

As regards the prime minister’s maiden visit to Afghanistan, the FO spokesperson said it focused on further deepening the fraternal ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan, the Afghan peace process, regional economic development and connectivity.
Besides holding wide-ranging talks with President Ashraf Ghani, the prime minister reaffirmed Pakistan’s support to a peaceful, stable, united, democratic, sovereign and prosperous Afghanistan and called on all sides for taking necessary measures for reduction in violence.

At a virtually held 2020 Afghanistan Conference, co-hosted by Finland, Afghanistan and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), the spokesperson said Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi highlighted Pakistan’s contribution to help Afghanistan attain self-reliance.

About the Country Strategy Dialogue (CSD) held by the World Economic Forum on Wednesday inaugurated and participated by the prime minister with the WEF president, and the chairpersons and chief executive officers of leading global corporations, he said the second Dialogue within a year was recognition of Pakistan’s positive economic trajectory.

He also mentioned the inaugural meeting of the SAARC planning ministers hosted by Pakistan preceded by the planning secretaries’ meeting as reaffirmation of Pakistan’s commitment to the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) process.

Spokesperson Chaudhri told the media that the foreign minister was on visit to Niger to attend 47th Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of the OIC scheduled in Niamey on November 27-28.

The CFM would discuss a wide range of issues confronting the Muslim world, with particular focus on combating Islamophobia and defamation of the religions, Palestine, Jammu & Kashmir dispute, and the situation of Muslim communities and minorities in non-OIC states.

The foreign minister would highlight aggravating human rights and humanitarian situation in the Indian Illegal Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK), rising incidents of Islamophobia and hate speech against the Muslims, he added.

Regarding the prevailing human rights situation in the IIOJK and the inhuman military siege for the last 479 days, he said the occupation forces had martyred 14 Kashmiris in staged encounters under the garb of so-called cordon and search operations.

During the last one year, the Indian occupation forces had extra-judicially killed more than 300 innocent Kashmiris, including women and children, in fake encounters in complete violation of the fundamental precepts of international humanitarian law.

Quoting a recent DW report, he said India shut down Internet more than any other country. Referring to foreign minister’s another letter to the President of the United Nations Security Council and the Secretary General, he said Pakistan demanded the resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute urging the world community to raise its voice against genocidal violence in the IIOJK.

He said Dr Gregory Stanton, the founder-president of ‘Genocide Watch’, had also recently stated that “preparation for a genocide is definitely underway in India.”

Strongly condemning the heartrending tragedy of a Muslim girl burnt alive in Bihar, India, the spokesperson said such incidents underscored the intensifying marginalization of minorities in the neighbouring country, especially the Muslims.

Highlighting a dossier presented by Pakistan with irrefutable evidence of India’s state sponsorship of terrorism in the country, the spokesperson said it highlighted India’s money laundering and terrorist financing aimed at instigating direct and indirect anti-state activities inside Pakistan through sub-nationalist entities, including its attempts to undermine, delay, and disrupt the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.

Following the presentation of dossier, he said, India had stepped up its anti-Pakistan propaganda, besides attempting to implicate Pakistan in some alleged planned attack in Nagrota in the IIOJK.

Responding to the “gratuitous” remarks made by the Indian external affairs minister on social media, he said, “Masquerading as a victim of terrorism is part of India’s desperate attempts to malign Pakistan and to divert international attention from its state-terrorism in IIOJK and its state-sponsorship of terrorism against Pakistan.

“The Indian side would be well advised to drop its act of victimhood, eschew the use of terrorism as an instrument of state policy,” he remarked.

Concerning the ongoing unprovoked ceasefire violations by India, he said during the current year alone, India had committed more than 2,840 ceasefire violations to date, martyring 27 innocent civilians and injuring 245 others.