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Mr. President,
The Pakistan delegation would like to congratulate you on the successful Chinese Presidency of the Security Council for this month and convening of this important meeting.
We would also like to congratulate new non-permanent members of the Security Council; Bosnia & Herzegovina, Brazil, Gabon, Lebanon and Nigeria. We wish them success.
Mr. President,
The Middle East is sacred birth place of great religions of our world. It resonates the kinder relationship of eternal God with mortal beings. It is wrapped in over-arching spirituality and religious good. Its symbols are blessed decorations in millions of homes around the globe. Its divinity demands it to be a land of peace and love against the reality of its being abode of unending conflicts and epitome of human political failure.
This failure has given credence to difficult religious, philosophical and political questions. It has questioned the notion of limitless-human-ingenuity. The very concept of intrinsic human good has been torn apart due to the brutalities committed on this land. In this turmoil of the Middle East, we the mortal beings have been worst exposed, with all our callousness, cruelty and animism.
Mr. President,
The consequences of our collective failure in the Middle East are disastrous for the region and beyond. What adds to the pessimism is the continuing grave situation on the ground in terms of humanitarian plight of the Palestinian people. Amidst this human tragedy, the ongoing provocative and aggressive actions of Israel in East Jerusalem have compounded the plight of Palestinian people and made a political settlement all the more difficult.
There is recognition of the fact that a just settlement of the Palestinian question is central to ending the cycle of suspicion and discord that has undermined peace and security in the Middle East and has also strained the relations between neighbours in the region. The question is how to convert this growing international consensus into credible action that would bring to fruition this arduous search for peace.
An immediate end to the illegal practices, affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people, is the most important prerequisite to build an environment of trust and confidence. The trust and confidence together with active engagement of international community is the only way forward for the peace process and progress towards a ‘two-state solution’ in accordance with the relevant Security Council resolutions.
Mr. President,
There is no option but to return to the negotiating table. Efforts to create new facts on ground that prejudice the outcome of negotiations are neither recognized nor can be acceptable to the international community. We should also learn from the half-hearted attempts, unfulfilled promises and aborted peace processes in the past. Greater political will is required to bring the parties together and help them engage in a sustained negotiations process, in good faith and without preconditions, aimed at achieving within a reasonable timeframe, a comprehensive agreement.
In accordance with its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, the Security Council has a significant and crucial role in supporting the efforts for renewed negotiations and their successful conclusion.
Mr. President,
I wish to conclude by reiterating Pakistan’s full support for this objective and our strong commitment for the realization of an independent, sovereign and viable State of Palestine with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
Thank you Mr. President.