ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi will be in Saudi Arabia on May 27-28 for ministerial meetings ahead of the Islamic Summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Foreign Office said on Thursday, paving the way for Prime Minister Imran Khan’s trip to the Kingdom to attend the summit on May 31.
Saudi Arabia will host the 14th session of the OIC’s Islamic Summit in Makkah on May 31, chaired by King Salman.
The summit, according to the Saudi Press Agency, is titled “Makkah Summit: Together for the Future” and aims to develop a unified stance on events in the Islamic world.
Foreign Office spokesman Dr. Mohammed Faisal confirmed to Arab News that Khan would be participating in the summit, and was expected to address members of the forum.
It is also expected that Khan will use the forum to highlight continuing Israeli aggression in Palestine, and recent developments in Pakistan’s relationship with India.
FASTFACT
Saudi Arabia will host the 14th session of the OIC’s Islamic Summit in Makkah on May 31, chaired by King Salman.
Israel started building settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem in the wake of the Six-Day War in June 1967. During the run-up to elections this year, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to annex the settlements — built in violation of international law — if he won another term in office.
“Pakistan remains at the forefront of supporting our Palestinian brethren in all OIC regular meetings,” Faisal said.
“We have supported resolutions on Palestine at the OIC which strongly condemns Israeli aggression.”
Describing Pakistan’s position on the Israel-Palestine conflict, Faisal said only the “establishment of a viable, independent and contiguous State of Palestine, on the basis of internationally agreed parameters, the pre-1967 borders, and with Al-Quds and Al-Sharif as its capital” would guarantee sustainable peace in West Asia.
