Pak stand on Palestine remains unchanged: FO

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Thursday said it was participating as an observer in the Sea Breeze naval exercise hosted by Ukraine along with the Israeli personnel and clarified that its principled position on the Palestine issue remained unchanged.

“We have consistently called for two-state solutions with pre-1967 borders and Al-Quds al Sharif as the capital of Palestinian state,” said the Foreign Office Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri while addressing the weekly news briefing here.

Chaudhri said Pakistan will continue to play a constructive role in the Afghan peace process.

Pakistan has worked closely with the US to achieve durable peace and stability in Afghanistan and will continue to cooperate with the US and the international community in this regard, said Chaudhri.

He said Pakistan hoped that the Afghan parties will agree to a common solution which was inclusive, broad-based and comprehensive. He reiterated that there was no military solution to the conflict, media reports say.

Asked to comment on Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s recent statement in Capitol Hill, Chaudhri said instead of indulging in blame game, the Afghan leadership should spend all energy on making the peace process successful.

He welcomed the UN Secretary General’s recent report which highlights indiscriminate targeting of Kashmiris with pellet guns in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. He called upon the international community to take cognizance of the plight of oppressed Kashmiri children.

He said the meeting held in New Delhi last week was yet another attempt by the BJP government to further marginalize the Kashmiri people to perpetuate India’s illegal occupation in illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

He said the meeting also further exposed the falsehood of the Indian narrative of the so-called normalcy in the occupied valley. The spokesperson said any steps aimed at bringing further illegal change in IIOJ&K will not be accepted by the Kashmiris and will also be resolutely opposed by Pakistan.

He said the only viable option was the solution of Kashmir dispute as per the UN Security Council resolutions and aspirations of the Kashmiri people.