Daily Times

Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Wednesday expressed serious concerns over the Israeli airstrikes on Palestine and urged the United Nations to intervene to end the grave violation of the human rights of Palestinian people.

The world body should hold an urgent meeting to take stock of the Israeli attacks on innocent Palestinians, he added.

Pakistan strongly condemned the Israeli army attacks on innocent Palestinians and the entire Muslim Ummah had grave concern over the situation, the minister said while talking to media persons at the residence of late Qari Muhammad Abdul Ghaffar Naqshbandi.

Qureshi said the Palestine issue was discussed with the Secretary General of Islamic Coordination Organization. He called for an urgent meeting of the OIC on the issue.

There was need that all the Muslim countries should unitedly raise voice over the Palestine issue, which would make the world take notice of the Israel’s flagrant violation of human rights of Palestinians, he added.

The foreign minister said Saudi Arabia had also strongly condemned the attack on Palestinians. Pakistan stood with the Muslim counties on the Palestine issue, he added.

About the prime minister’s recent visit to Saudi Arabia, Qureshi said the Kingdom had decided to invest $ 500 million more to strengthen Pakistan’s energy sector. It would help overcome the imbalance in the country’s energy mix, as the investment for exploring alternative and renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and hydel power, he added. It would help make the tariff cheap, which would impact the economy positively, the minister noted. Saudi Arabia would also focus infrastructure development and investment in water resources projects in Pakistan, he added. Qureshi said the three-day Saudi visit was undertaken on the invitation of Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, which had helped defuse the designs of detractors. He said Pakistan had enjoyed a good relationship with Saudi Arabia. With the initiative of Saudi-Pak Strategic Supreme Council, adhoc arrangement had now been changed into institutional one, which would base on three pillars, including security & political pillar to be headed by foreign minister, economic outreach led by interior minister and cultural & communication one led by the minister for information & broadcasting, he added.