Pakistan calls for ICJ judgment’s implementation

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday called for the full implementation of the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) provisional judgment on Gaza requiring an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, urging the UN Security Council (UNSC) to play its mandated role for the purpose.

“Pakistan also calls for the full implementation of ICJ’s provisional judgment to uphold human rights, dignity, and identity of the Palestinian people as per the UN Charter, relevant resolutions, and international law. The implementation of these provisional measures requires an immediate and unconditional ceasefire to bring about an end to the suffering faced by the people of Gaza,” Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in her weekly press briefing.

Expressing deep concerns about the ongoing oppression of Palestinian people, she strongly condemned the Israeli attack inside the Ibn Sina Hospital in Jenin, which, she said, fell in the category of war crimes being perpetrated against the Palestinian people, the official news agency reported.

“These ongoing atrocities go against the spirit of the provisional measures decided by the International Court of Justice to protect the people of Gaza,” she remarked.

Besides, she said, the suspension of funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) also went against the spirit of the ICJ’s provisional measures. “We urge reconsideration of the decision to suspend funding of UNRWA which has a crucial role in protecting and supporting the Palestinian people,” she remarked.

She told newsmen that on February 5, the government and people of Pakistan would observe the Kashmir Solidarity Day to reaffirm their solidarity with the Kashmiri people in their just struggle for realization of their inalienable right to self-determination.

“Pakistan will continue to extend political, diplomatic and moral support to our Kashmiri brothers and sisters for the just and peaceful settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolutions,” the spokesperson reiterated.

Highlighting the diplomatic engagements taken place during the last week, Baloch mentioned the ongoing visit of Caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani to Brussels to attend the 3^rd EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum.

On the sidelines, he also held bilateral meetings with a number of European Union officials, including Secretary General of the European External Action Service Stefano Sannino; EU Special Envoy for Religious Freedom Frans van Daele; Commissioner for Climate Action Wopke Hoekstra; and Chair of European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with the countries of South Asia Nicola Procaccini.

Foreign Minister Jilani will also participate in a roundtable session on ‘Economic Resilience and Investment’ to underscore investment opportunities for foreign investors in Pakistan.

She also recalled the visit of Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on January 29, who held in-depth meetings with FM Jilani and met with Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar and Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir.

The two sides agreed to further strengthen institutional mechanisms on security cooperation and to immediately appoint liaison officers in Turbat and Zahedan, besides establishing a joint coordination mechanism at the level of foreign ministers to oversee and steer progress on a common agenda for prosperity and development.

She reiterated that Pakistan shared credible evidence linking Indian agents to extra-territorial and extra-judicial killings of two Pakistani nationals on Pakistani soil which exposed the increasing sophistication and brazenness of Indian-sponsored terrorist acts inside Pakistan, with striking similarities with the pattern observed in other countries, including Canada and the United States.

The spokesperson told the media that as part of its proactive diplomacy and deepening engagement with Small Island Developing States, Pakistan has formally established diplomatic relations with St. Kitts & Nevis in the Caribbean and the Marshall Islands in the Pacific. Over the last three years, Pakistan has established diplomatic relations with Palau, Kiribati and the Dominican Republic.