New york
\nPrime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told the United Nations General Assembly that the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab should remain open, mentioning that they are arteries of the global economy.
\n\u201cThe Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab are arteries of the global economy; they must remain open \u2014 connecting nations, not becoming choke points of confrontation,\u201d he said during the 81st UNGA session in New York on Friday.
\n\u201cThese waters must carry the promise of prosperity, not the perils of war.\u201d
\nCondemning Houthi attacks on holy cities in Saudi Arabia, PM Shehbaz said that it was a \u201cred line\u201d and stressed that Pakistan stands with the Kingdom.
\n\u201cNo Muslim can even dare to think of committing such a heinous crime. Pakistan stands in complete solidarity with the brotherly people of Saudi Arabia, as we always have throughout our history,\u201d he added.
\nHe also said that the Makkah pact was not directed against any country; rather, it was a collective commitment for defence, stability, and peace in the region. \u201cNothing more.\u201d
\n\u201cThis alliance is not directed against any country. It is a collective commitment for defence, stability, and peace in the region, and nothing more.\u201d
\n\u2018Act of war\u2019
\nSpeaking on the Indus Water Treaty, the prime minister said that water is the \u201clifeblood\u201d not only of Pakistan but of the entire region, warning that any attempt to stop, impede or divert Pakistan\u2019s share of river waters would be treated as an \u201cact of war\u201d.
\nHe said India\u2019s unilateral decision to hold the existing water treaty in abeyance had \u201cno legal basis whatsoever\u201d. He said India\u2019s claims and actions had been rejected by experts and, more recently, by the Court of Arbitration.
\nThe prime minister maintained that Pakistan\u2019s position that the treaty remained \u201cvalid, binding and fully operative\u201d had been vindicated.
\n\u201cWater must never be weaponised. Rivers should nourish nations, not divide them,\u201d Shehbaz said.
\nHe warned India against attempting to interfere with Pakistan\u2019s share of the waters, saying Islamabad would regard any such move as an act of war.
\n\u2018Kashmir will always be Pakistan\u2019s jugular vein\u2019
\nPM Shehbaz said Pakistan exercised its right to self-defence under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter last year in May, with the armed forces responding to the Indian attack under the leadership of Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir.
\nHe also credited US President Donald Trump\u2019s intervention with helping prevent a wider conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, saying \u201chundreds of millions of lives\u201d in South Asia were saved.
\nThe prime minister said South Asia must never again reach the brink of an all-out war, stressing that this required a \u201cjust and fair\u201d resolution of the Kashmir dispute.
\nHe said Kashmiris had waited for eight decades for the UN to fulfil its commitment to a free and impartial plebiscite, while generations had endured illegal occupation, arbitrary detention, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, sexual violence and collective punishment.
\nThe prime minister said attempts to alter the legal status of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir through demographic changes and other measures are underway.
\nHe assured Kashmiris that Pakistan would continue providing diplomatic, political and moral support until they achieved their \u201cinalienable right to self-determination\u201d.
\n\u201cKashmir has been, and always will be, Pakistan\u2019s jugular vein,\u201d Shehbaz said.
\nPM condemns Israel\u2019s actions in Gaza
\nThe prime minister also condemned Israel\u2019s actions in Gaza and the West Bank, saying Palestinians, particularly women, children and the elderly, have endured occupation, displacement, suffering and death for generations.
\nHe recalled the killing of Palestinian girl Hind Rajab and highlighted the death of eight-year-old Wafaa Akeela, whose first day of school became her last.
\nThe PM questioned whether children born in Gaza did not deserve the same life, future and dreams as children elsewhere.
\nPM Shehbaz said the deaths of Hind Rajab, Wafaa Akeela and countless others would remain an indictment of the international community\u2019s silence and inaction.
\nHe said Pakistan supported an independent, sovereign, viable and contiguous Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
\nThe prime minister also condemned Israeli aggression against Lebanon and Syria, calling for an immediate end to the violence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New york Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told the United Nations General Assembly that the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab should remain open, mentioning that they are arteries of the global economy. \u201cThe Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab are arteries of the global economy; they must remain open \u2014 connecting nations, not becoming choke …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":103543,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103527"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":103536,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103527\/revisions\/103536"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}