ISLAMABAD
\nCaretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani on Sunday said that Pakistan\u2019s stance on Palestine was very clear and unequivocal, adding that Israel without any doubt had been committing a genocide of the oppressed Palestinians.
\nWhile addressing a news conference, he said that women and children had been embracing martyrdom in the Israeli attacks. \u201cPakistan demands an end to Israel\u2019s attacks and siege on Gaza,\u201d he added.
\nHe also stated that Pakistan\u2019s relations with Afghanistan were good, adding that Afghanistan had appealed for help for the earthquake victims. \u201cThe impression that relations with Afghanistan are deteriorating is not correct,\u201d he maintained.
\nWhile informing the media about the caretaker prime minister\u2019s scheduled visit to China, he said that caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq had been going to China at the invitation of the Chinese president.
\n\u201cMatters of mutual interest will be discussed in meetings with the Chinese leadership,\u201d he added. \u201cThe visit will increase mutual cooperation between China and Pakistan,\u201d he expressed optimism and added that important agreements would be signed during the prime minister\u2019s visit.
\nJilani said that Pakistan condemned the siege of Gaza as the poor Palestinians were facing unabated Israel aggression and had been without water, food and power, leading to a severe human crisis.
\nHe said Israel committed a genocide against the people of Plestine and the grave situation arising out was the result of seven decades of illegal occupation of the Palestine territories.
\nThe foreign minister said Israel should respect and implement the international laws, the United Nations Security Council and the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) resolutions over the Palestinians\u2019 rights to self-determination for an independent state.
\nHe said that an emergency and extraordinary meeting of the Executive Committee of the OIC would be held in Jeddah on October 18 to discuss the ongoing situation in Palestine.
\nIsrael had committed aggression and conducted aerial aggression over Gaza which resulted in the deaths of scores of women and children, he said, adding that any attempt to equate Israel, an aggressor, with the Palestinians\u2019 struggle for self-determination was unacceptable.
\nForeign Minister Jilani further stressed a separate status of Palestine under the two-state policy as accepted by the international community with an independent state of Palestine having pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
\nHe also categorically maintained that there was no change of Pakistan\u2019s policy with regard to Israel, it would continue pursuing the same policy as adopted in the past and would continue in the future till Palestinians get right their right to self-determination under the UNSC and OIC resolutions.
\nTo a question regarding the humanitarian aid to sieged Palestinians, he said that they were in touch with the international community and the Muslim countries, but unfortunately, there was a complete siege of Gaza.
\nHe said this aspect would be highlighted during the upcoming OIC executive committee meeting in which they would consider the coordinated response of the OIC member countries as to how to bring an end to the violence perpetrated by Israel and how to provide immediate humanitarian assistance to Palestinians.
\nPakistan was ready to provide humanitarian assistance and had been in touch with the Egyptian authorities, he added. He said the OIC committee meeting would make a forceful case for the early resolution of the issue.
\nAbout Caretaker Prime Minister\u2019s upcoming visit to China on October 17-18 to attend the third Belt and Road Forum for international cooperation, he said that the prime minister would hold meetings with the Chinese leaders, global leaders and top Chinese top business leaders.
\nPrime Minister Kakar would also discuss joint ventures with the Chinese companies and a number of MOUs regarding agriculture, health, industrial, green energy and space technology cooperation would be signed during the upcoming visit.
\nThe foreign minister further said that the visit would enhance the ongoing strong bilateral cooperation between Pakistan and China as \u2018Iron Brothers\u2019 and would help strengthen the bilateral ties.
\n\u201cThe visit will also provide an opportunity to review the entire gamut of entire cooperation and Pak-China strategic cooperation. The visit also marks the ten years of CPEC and Belt and Road Initiative,\u201d he added.
\nThe foreign minister further informed that the caretaker prime minister would also visit the Xingjian region bordering Pakistan and eight other countries of the region.
\nHe termed the CPEC as an economic success story for both sides and a model of excellent economic cooperation despite external dimensions to certain security challenges.
\nBoth countries coordinated to blunt the terrorist activities and the both sides had expressed satisfaction over the ongoing bilateral cooperation. <\/p>\n
They had completed the first phase of CPEC and entering into the second phase which related to industrial, technological and agricultural cooperation, he added.
\nThe foreign minister, to a query, advised not to heed to propaganda about the CPEC, adding the railways project was the part of ongoing negotiation between the two sides and had been in the advanced stage and expressed the hope that an agreement in this regard would be concluded soon.
\nAbout the expulsion of illegal foreigners, he said the policy did not pertain to Afghans only, but it was for all the illegal foreigners living in Pakistan without legal documents.
\nHe said Pakistan always supported Afghanistan in difficult times and there was an ongoing cooperation between the two countries in the economic and trade fields.
\nHe termed his recent meeting with the Afghan interim foreign minister in Azerbaijan as very constructive.
\nThe caretaker foreign minister said the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan had very close relations and coordinated positions and they always consulted with each other on important issues. Both brotherly countries had close economic and defence cooperation and also had convergence on different strategic issues, he added.
\nThe foreign minister also criticized the Indian government of not allowing Pakistani spectators and journalists to visit and watch ICC World Cup matches.
\nHe said it showed shortsightedness and was highly condemnable, \u2018India has set a very wrong precedent and violated the international norms and the ICC charter\u2019.
\nAbout his recent participation in ECO meeting in Azerbaijan, the foreign minister said the member countries reaffirmed their support to shared prosperity and connectivity.
\nHe said Pakistan and Iran had road and railway corridor network and the land corridor between Iran and Azerbaijan would be another connectivity network that would connect Pakistan with the Central Asian Republics and Russia.
\nThe foreign minister said the people of Azerbaijan were very grateful for the people of Pakistan for their support.
\nTo a question about the recovery of fake national passports from Afghans, he said the ministry of interior was investigating the issue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD Caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani on Sunday said that Pakistan\u2019s stance on Palestine was very clear and unequivocal, adding that Israel without any doubt had been committing a genocide of the oppressed Palestinians. While addressing a news conference, he said that women and children had been embracing martyrdom in the Israeli attacks. \u201cPakistan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-361797","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n