Pakistan on Wednesday voiced concern over Israel’s plan of annexing a large portion of the West Bank and urged it to refrain from taking any unilateral action.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi attended a virtual meeting of the foreign ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to discuss Israel’s threat to annex territories in the West Bank.
Israel was “urged to refrain from taking any unilateral action that would lead to the annexation of any occupied Palestinian territory in violation of relevant UN resolutions and international law,” the Foreign Office said.
While reaffirming Pakistan’s solidarity with the people of Palestine, Qureshi reiterated call for the establishment of a viable, independent and contiguous State of Palestine, on the basis of internationally agreed parameters, the pre-1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital.
The OIC is a 57-member grouping of Muslim majority nations, including Pakistan.
Qureshi also raised the Kashmir issue during the meeting and called upon the international community to play an active role in resolving the outstanding disputes.
Pakistan has been unsuccessfully trying to drum up international support against India for withdrawing Jammu and Kashmir’s special status on August 5 and bifurcating it into two Union territories.
India has categorically told the international community that the scrapping of Article 370 was its internal matter. It also advised Pakistan to accept the reality and stop all anti-India propaganda.