ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has said that Pakistan continues to follow the vision of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah on Palestine, rejecting reports that US President Donald Trump’s proposed 20-point plan reflected Pakistan’s stance.
Earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed full support to the Gaza peace plan that Donald Trump has presented saying “a peaceful resolution of the Palestine issue was essential in bringing political stability and economic growth to the region”.
Addressing the National Assembly, Dar said that peace in Gaza could not be achieved through statements alone, but through concrete steps.
Dar recalled that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif raised the issues of Kashmir, Palestine, climate change, and Israel’s actions in his address to the UN General Assembly.
He said that while the UN, the European Union, and Arab states had failed to halt the violence in Gaza, Muslim countries sought to engage Washington as a last resort.
The deputy prime minister revealed that Muslim leaders held two rounds of meetings with Trump, including one informal session at the UN headquarters and another discreet meeting at the Qatari embassy.
Trump later announced a 20-point proposal, which, Dar clarified, was not identical to the draft submitted by eight Muslim states including Pakistan, Turkey, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan and the UAE.
Dar said that the Muslim bloc’s joint statement welcomed US efforts to end the war in Gaza, rejected Israeli annexation of the West Bank, and called for unhindered aid to Gaza, the return of displaced Palestinians, release of hostages, complete Israeli withdrawal, and the revival of a two-state solution.
He maintained that Pakistan’s policy remains firmly rooted in the two-state solution with East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital.
The deputy prime minister also disclosed that nearly half of the 45 boats in the Gaza-bound flotilla had been seized, with passengers detained, including former senator Mushtaq Ahmed Khan.
He said that Pakistan was striving for the safe return of Pakistanis on the Gaza-bound flotilla and had sought European assistance for the release of Mushtaq Ahmed, reportedly detained by Israel.
The White House has unveiled a proposal to end Israel’s war in Gaza that would see the territory placed under a temporary governing structure, with US president Donald Trump and former UK prime minister Tony Blair at its centre.
Earlier, PPP lawmakers staged a walkout from the assembly after Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz refused to apologise over remarks, though they later returned after negotiations with government members. Meanwhile, journalists staged a protest in the press gallery against a police raid on the Islamabad Press Club.