Netanyahu’s pledge “dangerous trend,” Pakistan warns at OIC meeting

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation consists of 57 member states. (AFP file photo)

• Federal Minister Shafqat Mehmood drew strong parallels between situations in Kashmir and Palestine
• Said contiguous Palestinian state with Jerusalem as capital only hope for peace

ISLAMABAD: The Israeli Prime Minister’s unilateral announcement of his intention to annex territories in the occupied West Bank as a re-election promise, “is a dangerous trend and threatens world peace and security,” said Pakistan’s Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training, Shafqat Mehmood, who led the country’s delegation during Sunday’s extraordinary meeting of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers in Jeddah. 
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was not present at the meeting.
The 16th extraordinary meeting of its kind was called by the OIC Secretariat at the request of Saudi Arabia as Chair of the 14th Islamic Summit, following Netanyahu’s annexation pledge days ahead of a hotly contested election to be held on Tuesday. The meeting was chaired by the Saudi Foreign Minister, Dr. Ibrahim bin Abdulaziz Al-Assaf, a press release stated.
Mehmood “appealed to OIC members, United Nations and the international community to revive their obligation toward the people of Palestine,” and added that “the UN and the OIC members should condemn such irresponsible announcements, being used as party slogans in the election campaign, which can jeopardize peace in the region.”
Furthermore, Mehmood drew strong comparisons between the “unspeakable suffering” of the Kashmiri and Palestinian people who shared a history of “over seven decades of occupation” and drew attention to the communications blackout and arrests taking place in Indian-administered Kashmir since August 5th, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi moved to abrogate the region’s special legal status.
Mehmood reaffirmed Pakistan’s stance that the establishment of a viable, independent and contiguous Palestinian state on the basis of internationally agreed parameters and with Jerusalem as its capital, was the “only way to bring peace and stability in Middle East.”