ISLAMABAD: Foreign Office said on Friday that Pakistan has high hopes from the OIC extraordinary summit being held in Riyadh today (Saturday) and expressed its full support to the unanimous proposals to be adopted by the summit that included an immediate end to the Israeli carnage, lifting of the siege, access of the people of Gaza to humanitarian assistance, and preventing the threat from being extended beyond Gaza and to the neighbouring countries.
Speaking at her weekly media briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said that Pakistan welcomes the forthcoming Extraordinary Islamic Summit to be held on 11 November 2023 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The OIC Summit has been convened in response to the unprecedented Israeli attacks on Gaza and its environs, which have posed a grave threat to the civilian population and precipitated a humanitarian crisis.
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“Pakistan is deeply concerned about the heinous crimes being committed against the Palestinian people as Israeli forces continue with their campaign of terror and brutality in Gaza,” she said.
For over a month, she added that the people of Gaza have been subjected to the worst forms of collective punishment. She stated that Israeli forces are committing crimes against humanity with impunity as they indiscriminately massacre defenceless civilians and deliberately deprive them of food, water, shelter, and medical care.
“The use of phosphorus bombs and threats of nuclear holocaust are being made against a people under occupation who are being forcibly evicted from their land,” she added.
As a tragedy of epic proportions unfolds in Gaza, she stated that the UN Security Council must act to fulfil its responsibility to uphold peace and call for an urgent and unconditional ceasefire, lifting of the siege and commencement of rapid, unhindered humanitarian assistance.
“Backers of Israel must prevail upon it to abandon its plans for settler colonialism, forced displacement and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people. As an occupying power, Israel must fulfil its obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention and forthwith end the carnage in Gaza,” the spokesperson asserted.
To a question, she said that Pakistan has high hopes from the OIC Islamic summit. She said that Pakistan will support the consensus that would emerge from the Summit. “Our objective is clear which is to end the carnage that is taking place in Gaza, the forced displacement of the people must end. The siege must be lifted that the people of Gaza must have access to humanitarian assistance. We must also ensure that this threat doesn’t extend beyond Gaza to the West Bank and to the neighbouring countries,” she added.
She said that it is critical that civilians must be protected and a ceasefire must be enforced so that the families can safely stay at their homes and humanitarian assistance may reach them as is their right.
She also stated that Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar is travelling to Saudi Arabia to participate in the extraordinary Islamic Summit.
At the Summit, and the CFM preceding it where Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani will participate, Pakistan will continue to play its role to advance international consensus and galvanise efforts for an urgent end to Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people and urgent provision of relief assistance to the people of Gaza, she added.
When asked whether the caretaker PM will also hold meetings with Saudi top leadership, she said that it is not a bilateral visit and this is a short trip during which there may be some bilateral or sideline meetings depending on the time available and the window available for such meetings.
In response to a question about the concerns expressed by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom with regard to the deportation of the illegal Afghans, Baloch said that Pakistan’s policy with regards to repatriation of individuals who are currently in Pakistan in violation of Pakistan’s immigration laws is based on international practice.
She added that this policy is reflective of Pakistan’s desire to implement its own laws, which include sanctions for individuals who are here illegally, and these sanctions include fines, prison sentence and deportation.
“These laws are similar in many countries, including the United States. Pakistan is implementing this policy with full confidence that our policy is in conformity with international practice.
We have also said that this policy does not pertain to and does not apply to individuals who have confirmed refugee status in Pakistan and that we are sensitive to the concerns that some of these individuals may have with regards to their return to Afghanistan,“ she explained.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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