BANJUL, Gambia: Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar met with his counterparts from Turkey and Azerbaijan on Sunday and discussed bilateral trade and other matters of mutual interest on the sidelines of the 15th Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Summit in Banjul, Gambia.
Dar, who is also the country’s deputy prime minister, reached the West African nation on Wednesday where he’s leading Pakistan’s delegation to raise the issues of Gaza and Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) at the OIC moot from May 4 to 5.
During his meeting with Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, the two sides mulled over the friendly relations between the two brotherly countries along with the commitment to strengthen bilateral ties, especially in the economic, trade, and defence sectors.
Prior to that, Dar met with Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov wherein the two dignitaries discussed deepening bilateral cooperation in trade, connectivity, energy, and people-to-people contacts and emphasised the importance of dialogue at the political level.
The foreign minister also felicitated the Azeri counterpart on winning the bid to host COP29 summit and expressed Pakistan’s interest in cooperation on climate change.He also expressed gratitude for Baku’s principled stance on IIOJK.
Dar’s high-level interactions came as the Foreign Office, in its earlier statement, said the minister will hold bilateral meetings with dignitaries from member countries attending the Summit. A day earlier, Dar held meetings with delegates of several countries including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait and Qatar.
During his interaction with Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, the two sides discussed strengthening strategic and economic ties, and enhancing investments between the two countries while reiterating the call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
They also underscored the significance of OIC’s role in addressing challenges concerning the Muslim Ummah including Islamophobia and the situations in Palestine and Kashmir. –News Desk
APP adds: Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar on Sunday expressed Pakistan’s deep concern over Israel’s ongoing brutal military onslaught against the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank.
In the backdrop of the genocide of Palestinians and atrocities of Israeli forces, he urged the OIC member states to work together for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire and uninterrupted humanitarian assistance to the besieged Palestinians.
Addressing the 15th OIC Summit Conference in Banjul, he also expressed Pakistan’s support for Palestine’s admission as a full member of the UN, resumption of the peace process for realisation of the two-state solution and establishment of a viable, contiguous and sovereign State of Palestine on the basis of pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, the Foreign Office said in a press release.
Highlighting Indian atrocities in IIOJK, especially after India’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019, Foreign Minister Dar urged the OIC to implement its Action Plan on Jammu and Kashmir, demanding that India ends all human rights violations, release Hurriyat leaders and reverse its illegal demographic and other unilateral laws.
He appreciated the OIC for its principled support for the Kashmir cause and requested the OIC member countries to use their influence for urgent resolution of Jammu and Kashmir dispute as per relevant UN Security Council and the OIC resolutions.
Condemning the rising trend of Islamophobia and discrimination against Muslims in various parts of the world, the deputy prime minister 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 OIC’s appointment of a Special Envoy on Islamophobia.Dar 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 the 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.Dar underscored that the OIC could play an important role in global economic growth.
He urged the OIC to work collectively to address the existential threat of climate change, which caused catastrophic floods in Pakistan in 2022. The deputy prime minister and foreign minister also expressed Pakistan’s support to revitalise the UN system and reform the UN Security Council – to make it more representative, democratic, and effective for international peace and security.