Islamabad:
In a renewed bid for regional peace, Pakistan on Tuesday expanded an olive branch to India that offers to resume comprehensive conversations to solve all excellent disputes between the two nuclear armed neighbors, including the decades old Kashmir questions.
Speaking at a news conference in New York repeated Vice Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, who also acts as the country’s foreign minister, Pakistan’s willingness to “composed dialogue”, emphasizes that any future commitment must go beyond the issue of terrorism.
“Pakistan itself has been one of the greatest victims of terrorism,” Dar said, adding that the offer was made in good faith and with the aim of achieving sustained peace in South Asia.
The Foreign Minister claimed that there could be no lasting peace in the region without solving Jammu and Kashmir. He said even US President Donald Trump had repeatedly recognized the meaning of the question.
DAR’s comments came after his meeting with US State Secretary Marco Rubio. During the meeting, both leaders discussed regional security and Pakistan’s contribution to the global war on terror. “Secretary Rubio recognized Pakistan’s victims,” Dar said.
On the Indus Waters Treaty, he confirmed Islamabad’s attitude that the agreement is legally binding and cannot be changed one -sided. He warned that all attempts from India to divert or block Pakistan’s share of the river water would be unacceptable.
In response to a question of Israel, he made it clear that Pakistan has no plans to establish diplomatic ties with Tel Aviv. He called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and repeated Pakistan’s support for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with al-QD’s al-Sharif (Jerusalem) as its capital.
Earlier in the day, the Foreign Minister dealt with the international conference at a high level of the peaceful settlement of the issue of Palestine and the implementation of the two-state solution.
In a strong word speech, he condemned Israeli acts in Gaza and called for urgent international intervention. “For over 75 years, the Palestinian people have endured occupation, displacement and denial of their fundamental rights,” Dar said. “Gaza is now a cemetery for international law.”
He quoted the killing of over 58,000 Palestinians – mostly women and children – as a “serious violation of international humanitarian law” and called for accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity. “This collective punishment must stop now,” he declared.
Dar outlined Pakistan’s most important demands that include an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire over Gaza and all occupied Palestinian territories, full and unobstructed humanitarian access, political and economic reinforcement to UNRWA and the end of Israeli punishment through international responsibility mechanisms and a genuine and unresolved political process against a two-status solution.
He greeted France’s recent decision to recognize Palestine and urged other nations to follow.
He also supported the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) proposals for an international protection mechanism for Palestinians and promised to contribute technical and institutional assistance in areas such as public health, education and governance.
“The occupation must end and end now,” he demanded. “The best guarantee of lasting peace is freedom, self-determination and full UN membership for Palestine.”
