Pakistan has regretted the United States (US) decision to veto the draft resolution seeking Palestine’s full membership of the United Nations (UN), as well as expressed its disappointment on the UN Security Council’s inability to reach a consensus on the matter.
“Pakistan is deeply disappointed by the result of last night’s debate at the UNSC and its inability to reach a consensus and recommend Palestine’s membership to UN General Assembly,” Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in her weekly press briefing on Friday.
“We regret the US decision to veto the draft resolution granting full membership of the UN to Palestine,” she added.
The Security Council blocked Palestine’s bid to become a full member of the UN due to a US veto on a widely-supported resolution that would have recommended the granting of such status.
The proposal, submitted to the 15-member Council by Algeria, received 12 votes in favour, with the US casting a negative vote and Switzerland and the United Kingdom (UK) abstaining.
The UNSC resolution required at least nine votes in favour and no vetoes from its five permanent members — China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States — to pass.
“We believe, the time has come for admission of Palestine to the UN. This will be a step towards correcting the historic injustice suffered by Palestinians for over 75 years. It will affirm their right to self-determination,” she remarked.
The spokesperson said that the people of Palestine had their inherent right to live in a sovereign Palestinian state with the pre-1967 borders and Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
To a question, she said the upcoming summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Gambia would consider several proposals including those on Palestine, Jammu and Kashmir as well as Islamophobia.
The spokesperson said that during the recent visit of a high-powered Saudi delegation to Islamabad, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and his Saudi counterpart Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud had also called for de-escalation, immediate ceasefire, and lifting of the siege in Gaza.
The stumbling block in the implementation of the ceasefire is the Israeli occupation authorities, she added.
