Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Sunday extended Pakistan’s support for Palestine’s admission as a full member of the UN, and resumption of the peace process for the realisation of a “viable, contiguous and sovereign” Palestinian state on pre-1967 borders.

Dar, who doubles as the deputy prime minister and is also a senator, arrived in The Gambia on Wednesday to represent Pakistan at the 15th Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit in Banjul. Besides attending the OIC summit, he was to also hold bilateral meetings with dignitaries from the member countries.

The October 7 attack on southern Israel by Hamas and the ensuing Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed nearly 35,000 Palestinians. It has also obliterated much of the enclave’s infrastructure and created a humanitarian crisis verging on famine.

Dar, in his address to the OIC today, urged its member states to work together for an “immediate and unconditional ceasefire and uninterrupted humanitarian assistance to the besieged Palestinians”.

He expressed Pakistan’s deep concern over Israel’s ongoing brutal bombardment of the Palestinian people in Gaza.

He condemned the rising trend of Islamophobia, urging the OIC to formulate a joint strategy to work with global social media platforms to harmonise their application of content regulation policies for blasphemous, anti-Islamic and Islamophobic content.

The foreign minister appreciated OIC’s appointment of a Special Envoy on Islamophobia.

He underscored that the OIC can be important in global economic growth, urging the OIC to work collectively to address the existential threat of climate change which caused catastrophic floods in Pakistan in 2022.

He also expressed Pakistan’s support to revitalise the UN system and reform the UN Security Council in order to make it more representative, democratic and effective for international peace and security.

Condemns India’s anti-Pakistan rhetoric, Islamophobic narratives

During his address, Dar strongly condemned the surge in anti-Pakistan rhetoric and Islamophobic narratives in India by its politicians during the ongoing elections, saying it “threatened regional stability”.

He highlighted that Pakistan continued to face externally sponsored terrorism from across its borders, despite contributing the most to the fight against terrorism.

Dar urged the OIC to implement its action plan on India-occupied Kashmir, demand that India end all human rights violations, release Hurriyat leaders, and reverse its illegal demographic and other unilateral laws.

He appreciated the OIC for its “principled support” for the Kashmir cause and requested to use their influence for urgent resolution of the India-occupied Kashmir as per relevant UN Security Council and the OIC resolutions.

Dar, Turkish FM Fidan discuss bilateral ties

Dar and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan reviewed the state of bilateral relations and emphasised the exceptional bonds of friendship between the two countries.

The two leaders met on the sidelines of the conference in Banjul, the Foreign Office spokesperson said in a post on X.

Expressing satisfaction with the “positive momentum”, they reiterated their resolve to further deepen bilateral cooperation with a particular focus on economic, trade, and defence sectors.