Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, expressed Pakistan’s deep concern over Israel’s ongoing brutal military campaign against the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank. He urged the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states to work together for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire and provide uninterrupted humanitarian assistance to the besieged Palestinians, against the backdrop of the genocide of Palestinians and atrocities committed by Israeli forces.
During his address to the 15th OIC Summit Conference held in Banjul, the capital of The Gambia, he also expressed Pakistan’s support for Palestine’s admission as a full member of the United Nations and the resumption of the peace process for the realization of the two-state solution. He emphasized the establishment of a viable, contiguous, and sovereign state of Palestine based on pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, as well as urged the OIC member states to implement its action plan on Jammu and Kashmir.
Highlighting Indian atrocities in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), particularly after India’s illegal and unilateral actions of August 5, 2019, the deputy prime minister and foreign minister urged the OIC to demand that India end all human rights violations, release Hurriyat leaders, and reverse its illegal demographic and other unilateral laws.
Dar also condemned the increasing trend of Islamophobia and discrimination against Muslims in various parts of the world. He urged the OIC to formulate a joint strategy to work with global social media platforms to harmonize their application of content regulation policies for blasphemous, anti-Islamic, and Islamophobic content. He appreciated the OIC’s appointment of a special envoy on Islamophobia.
He also strongly condemned the surge in anti-Pakistan rhetoric and Islamophobic narratives by India’s political leaders during the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, which 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.
The deputy prime minister underscored the OIC’s potential role in global economic growth and urged it to work collectively to address the existential threat of climate change, which caused catastrophic floods in Pakistan in 2022. Dar also expressed Pakistan’s support to revitalize the UN system and reform the UN Security Council to make it more representative, democratic, and effective for international peace and security.
