Pakistan, UK discuss investment opportunities in energy, minerals and infrastructure

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar this week called for an extraordinary summit of the foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to discuss the ongoing plight of the people of Palestine, and US President Donald Trump’s proposal to resettle Palestinians in Gaza to other countries. 

Earlier this month Trump suggested that Palestinians residing in Gaza should be resettled in Egypt, Jordan or other countries while addressing the media alongside visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The proposal was rejected by both Egypt and Jordan and countries including Pakistan, prompting condemnation from various international rights groups as well.

Dar spoke to his Iranian counterpart Seyed Abbas Araghchi over the telephone during which both diplomats discussed Trump’s proposal. Dar described it as “deeply troubling and unjust,” the foreign office said on Saturday. 

“He also conveyed Pakistan’s support for convening of an Extraordinary OIC meeting of Foreign Ministers to deliberate upon this issue,” the foreign office said in its statement. 

“The two Ministers agreed to maintain close contact on these developments in the days ahead.”

Dar said the Palestinian land belongs to the people of Palestine, adding that a two-state solution in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions is the only viable option to resolve the Middle East crisis.  

“Pakistan shall continue to support the establishment of a sovereign, independent, and contiguous Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, the statement quoted Dar as saying. 

Trump’s controversial statement came weeks after Hamas and Israel agreed to a six-week initial ceasefire phase, which ended 15 months of war. 

The truce included the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from central Gaza and the return of displaced Palestinians to northern Gaza.

KARACHI: Jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party on Saturday vowed to continue protests against alleged vote manipulation in the 2024 general elections, as the party held protests to mark a “Black Day” on the first anniversary of the polls.

Hundreds of Khan supporters took part in a rally in Pakistan’s northwestern Swabi city on Saturday evening, responding to the PTI’s call to mark Feb. 8 as a Black Day with anti-government protests and rallies. 

National polls held last year on Feb. 8 were marred by a countrywide shutdown of cell phone networks and delayed results, leading to widespread allegations of election manipulation by opposition parties like the PTI and opposition faction Jamaat-e-Islami.

The caretaker government, which oversaw the electoral exercise, and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), deny the charges. However, the US House of Representatives and several European countries have called on Islamabad to open a probe into the allegations — a move Pakistan’s current government has thus far rejected.

The PTI initially planned to hold a rally in Lahore but, after being denied permission by the local administration, relocated it to Swabi in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), where the party is in power.

“When we proceed and raise the slogan of revolution and hold the colors of our flag, you will not tolerate it,” KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur said at the Swabi rally. 

Talks between Khan’s party and the government, which began in December, broke down last month after the PTI said it would not negotiate unless the government formed commissions to probe violent anti-government protests of May 2023 and November 2024. 

“If you’re not ready for talks, we also know how to respond,” Gandapur said. “If you use people and arms bought with our tax money, we will also have arms.”

Junaid Akbar the president of PTI’s KP chapter, warned the party will continue protests further.

“When Khan gives the order this time, we will take care of both your approach and your defense,” he warned the federal government. 

In Karachi, the PTI had planned to hold a rally at the Karachi Press Club but police attempted to halt the protest, forcing hundreds of Khan supporters to reach Empress Market to stage a rally.

Separately, Senator Irfan Siddiqui, a member of the government’s negotiating committee, wrote on social media platform X that it now stands non-functional and ineffective, alleging that the PTI wants to proceed with violence. 

“PTI has also rejected the prime minister’s offer after unilaterally walking out of the negotiation process,” he said. 

“Now it wants to go to the home ground of violent protests.”

In Karachi, the JI protested outside the election commission’s office, demanding the electoral body fix the results of the polls.

“Whoever has won elections should be declared the winner. The people who have reached assemblies are certainly not the winner,” Muslim Pervez, the vice president of JI’s Karachi chapter, told Arab News.

PTI candidates contested the elections as independents after the party was barred from contesting polls under its symbol. While they won the most seats, they fell short of a majority, allowing a coalition of rival parties, led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, to form the government.

Pakistan’s government reiterates it won the general elections on the basis of popular support and has repeatedly rejected the PTI’s allegations of rigging.