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Mr. President,
We thank Special Coordinator Robert Serry for his comprehensive briefing this morning.
Mr. President,
We meet here as ominous developments have taken place in the Middle East. The atmosphere has once again become toxic.
Israel has halted peace talks. Apparently, this ends US Secretary of State John Kerry’s nine-month long peace initiative. Israel is pondering economic sanctions against Palestine. This would worsen the economic plight of the Palestinian people.
Palestine has announced that it is considering all options to respond to the Israeli decision to sever contact with Palestine for talks. Palestinians have decided to give priority to “reconciliation and national unity”.
This hiatus should not be treated as irreversible or a point of no return. It should be seen as a pause and a time for introspection. Talks, we would like to believe, are halted, not abandoned.
We welcome the Palestinian initiative to forge national unity. The talks between Palestine and Israel are also a priority because without the peace process, lasting peace and stability will remain elusive. We agree with Secretary Kerry’s conclusion that "...leaders have to make the compromises to forge ahead…”.
The difficult issues of final border arrangements, settlements, and release of prisoners will not be resolved away from negotiating tables. This is the inexorable logic of the two-state solution.
Pakistan calls for urgent steps to renew the stalled peace talks. Considerable time and political capital invested in the process should not be frittered away. The cost of failure is huge. The flare up in Gaza last month and again last week gave a glimpse of what a complete break-down might lead to.
That said, dialogue for the sake of dialogue, without the political will and commitment to make difficult choices is neither desirable nor conducive to peace in the region.
Mr. President,
Pakistan condemns storming of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound by Israeli extremists. Annexation of Palestinian lands by the Israeli occupation forces is illegal. The debate in the Israeli Knesset on annexing Al-Haram Al-Sharif and provocative actions like disruption of Easter celebrations undermine peace, heighten tensions and further destabilize the region.
Pakistan supports continued supervision by the Islamic Waqf of the Muslim and Christian holy sites in the Occupied East Jerusalem, with a special role assigned to Jordan.
We call for a moratorium on settlements, release of detainees, recommitment to meaningful and substantive dialogue and lifting of the blockade in Gaza. It is important that tensions are reduced and minimal trust is built for early resumption of talks.
Mr. President,
Peace, security, stability and sustainable economic development in the Middle East depend directly on creation of an independent, viable and contiguous State of Palestine, based on pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, living side by side with Israel, and both sides recognizing each other's legitimate rights.
Israel must also withdraw from all Arab territories, including Lebanon and the Syrian Golan.
Mr. President,
Let me now turn to Syria.
We welcome the progress made so far in removing and destroying chemical weapons in Syria; and appreciate the cooperation extended by the Syrian Government to the UN-OPCW mission. We back Ms. Sigrid Kaag’s call for removal of all chemical weapons arsenal from Syria. While we share her concern over reports about the use of chlorine gas as a weapon, the best course of action is to investigate the reports about the use of toxic chemicals to establish facts beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Let us not forget that every day conventional weapons cause far more casualties than chemical weapons.
Killings are increasing; and the number of refugees and displaced persons is going up. The Secretary General has informed us that combatants in Syria are not heeding this body’s decision to “give unfettered access for humanitarian aid”. As a result, some 300,000 Syrian trapped in conflict zones continue to be deprived of basic food and medicine.
Worst of all, the Geneva talks are in a state of limbo.
We call on all parties to the conflict in Syria, and nations which have special relations with them, to come back to the negotiating table to find a long-term political solution that respects the aspirations of all Syrians. We also call on the parties to honor the decisions taken by the Council in its resolution 2139 on humanitarian access.
Syria should not be pushed to the back burner because of other pressing crises.
Finally, we condemn terrorist attacks in Syria, including the ones that took place today. We convey our deepest condolences to the Syrian people and families of the victims.
I thank you.