ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Permanent Representative at the UN Maleeha Lodhi on Wednesday said Pakistan firmly remained committed to the two-state solution of the Palestine dispute and rejected the shifting US position on the issue.
Lodhi was speaking via video at a round table conference organized by Islamabad Policy Institute (IPI) on ‘Palestine: Deal of the Century and Two State Solution’.
“We are seeing shifting of US policy …. Pakistan does not agree with shifts in position and we continue to be part of OIC in rejecting these shifts and calling for a just and humane settlement of Palestine issue in line with UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council resolutions,” Lodhi said, referring to the US position on Golan Heights and illegal settlements.
“We call for two-state solution based on pre-1967 borders with Jerusalem as capital of independent and contiguous Palestinian State,” she said and emphasised that international consensus in favour of such a solution remains unaffected.
Quoting the UN secretary-general, the Pakistani envoy said, there was no other viable plan that could deliver peace in Middle East.
The deputy permanent observer of Palestine at the UN Feda Abdelhady, in her comments, rejected the ‘Deal of the Century’ as “cynical and bad faith effort”.
Criticising the US plan, she said Bahrain Conference relegated core issues in Palestine dispute as ‘non-issues’ and there was not even a mention of ‘Palestine’ and ‘occupation’ in the US plan. She said the US was, in collaboration with Israel, trampling the law and mocking the longstanding international consensus on the issue.
“It is clear that appealing, cajoling, and appeasing Israel is not going to work and the international community must realize that only accountability can break this toxic cycle, end illegal occupation and achieve rights for Palestinian people,” she maintained.
Lodhi was speaking via video at a round table conference organized by Islamabad Policy Institute (IPI) on ‘Palestine: Deal of the Century and Two State Solution’.
“We are seeing shifting of US policy …. Pakistan does not agree with shifts in position and we continue to be part of OIC in rejecting these shifts and calling for a just and humane settlement of Palestine issue in line with UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council resolutions,” Lodhi said, referring to the US position on Golan Heights and illegal settlements.
“We call for two-state solution based on pre-1967 borders with Jerusalem as capital of independent and contiguous Palestinian State,” she said and emphasised that international consensus in favour of such a solution remains unaffected.
Quoting the UN secretary-general, the Pakistani envoy said, there was no other viable plan that could deliver peace in Middle East.
The deputy permanent observer of Palestine at the UN Feda Abdelhady, in her comments, rejected the ‘Deal of the Century’ as “cynical and bad faith effort”.
Criticising the US plan, she said Bahrain Conference relegated core issues in Palestine dispute as ‘non-issues’ and there was not even a mention of ‘Palestine’ and ‘occupation’ in the US plan. She said the US was, in collaboration with Israel, trampling the law and mocking the longstanding international consensus on the issue.
“It is clear that appealing, cajoling, and appeasing Israel is not going to work and the international community must realize that only accountability can break this toxic cycle, end illegal occupation and achieve rights for Palestinian people,” she maintained.