ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s additional foreign secretary for the Asia and Pacific region has urged world powers to strengthen cooperation mechanisms to address foreign occupation issues, particularly in the Middle East and South Asia regions, the country’s foreign office said on Friday.
Ambassador Imran Ahmed Siddiqui, Pakistan’s additional foreign secretary of the Asia and Pacific region, represented his country at the 19th Asian Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) meeting of foreign affairs ministers held in Tehran on June 24.
Siddiqui stressed the importance of promoting regional connectivity and leveraging complementarities among member states at the conference, Pakistan’s foreign office spokesperson said.
“He also underscored the importance of strengthening sub-regional dialogue and cooperation mechanisms within Asia to effectively address issues of foreign occupation and persecution, particularly in the Middle East and South Asia,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in a statement.
Baloch also strongly condemned Israel for its “indiscriminate” bombing of the Beit Lahya city in northern Gaza, calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East.
On Wednesday, an Israeli air strike at the Abu Awad family home in Beit Lahiya killed 15 people, media reports said.
“Pakistan strongly condemns the indiscriminate bombing of Beit Lahiya city in northern Gaza by Israeli forces killing women and children,” Baloch said.
“The indiscriminate acts of collective punishments constitute war crimes and flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.”
Despite global protests and condemnation, Israel continues to pound Gaza with bombs and ground operations. The Jewish state accuses Hamas fighters of hiding among civilians and says it wants displaced people to get out of the way of its operations against the fighters in northern Gaza.
More than eight months into Israel’s war on Gaza, aid officials say the enclave remains at high risk of famine, with almost half a million people facing “catastrophic” food insecurity. Over 37,700 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since last year, Palestinian officials say.