Dar to attend ministerial meeting in Jordan on deteriorating situation in occupied Jerusalem: FO

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar will visit Jordan on Tuesday to attend a ministerial meeting aimed at formulating a unified position on the situation in occupied Jerusalem, according to the Foreign Office (FO). The Ministerial Meeting on Jerusalem, scheduled to be held on Aug 5 (Wednesday), will bring together foreign ministers from Arab League member states and a group of Islamic countries to discuss the deteriorating situation in the region, the FO said in a statement shared on social media. Dar was invited to attend by Jordan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Al Safadi, the statement said. “The attending foreign ministers will also call on His Majesty King Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein, King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, during the visit,” the FO added.

The foreign minister is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting to exchange views on regional developments, including the humanitarian situation in Palestine. The FO termed Dar’s participation in the meeting “a manifestation of Pakistan’s principled support for the Palestinian people” and its commitment to the establishment of an “independent, sovereign and contiguous” State of Palestine based on pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital. Pakistan and other Muslim countries have repeatedly condemned “continued incursions by extremist Israeli settlers” into Al Aqsa Mosque — Islam’s third-holiest site, located in east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in 1967 and later annexed. The Al-Aqsa compound is a central symbol of Palestinian identity and also a frequent flashpoint. Under long-standing arrangements, Jewish people may visit the compound, but are not permitted to pray there. While Israel says it is committed to maintaining this status quo, Palestinians fear it is being eroded. The foreign ministers of Pakistan and eight other Muslim countries in June expressed their “categorical rejection” of any attempts to alter the historical and legal status quo in Jerusalem and its Islamic and Christian holy sites.