Islamabad: Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister (DPM/FM) Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Sunday, expressing Pakistan’s unwavering support for the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Somalia, said the illegal and unlawful recognition by Israel of the Somaliland region, was ‘a direct assault on Somalia’s internationally recognized borders, which constitutes a flagrant violation of international law.’
In a statement at the Extraordinary Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) held in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the deputy prime minister/foreign minister strongly condemned the Israel’s announcement and the subsequent unwarranted and highly provocative visit of its foreign minister to Somaliland.
‘Pakistan also voiced its firm support for Somalia and condemned Israel’s actions during the UN Security Council’s briefing on the issue. The principle of state sovereignty and territorial integrity constitutes a peremptory norm of international law from which no deviation or derogation is permitted,’ he stressed.
The DPM/FM maintained that the internationally recognized borders of Somalia were sacrosanct and inviolable, and the Somaliland region remained an integral, inseparable and inalienable part of Somalia.
‘No external actor has either the legal standing or the moral authority to alter that fundamental reality. Any act, statement, or recognition thereof by a state or an external entity regarding any part of the Federal Republic of Somalia should therefore be considered null and void, producing no political or legal effects,’ the Foreign Office Spokesperson, in a press release, quoted the DPM/FM as saying.
Dar said that they believed that such recognition of an integral part of a sovereign State was not a diplomatic act, but an act of political aggression that set a perilous precedent, threatening peace and security in the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea region, and beyond.
Pakistan joined the group of OIC countries in unequivocally rejecting the unlawful Israeli move through the Joint statement released in the immediate aftermath of the supposed Israeli recognition of ‘Somaliland’, he added.
He said the Joint statement termed the recognition of ‘parts of states’ a violation of the cardinal principles of international law and the UN Charter and noted the Israeli action’s potential serious repercussions for the Horn of Africa region, the Red Sea region and for international security as a whole.
The OIC and the wider international community’s firm rejection of this unlawful overture by Israel was, therefore, vital so that the impudent Israeli act did not set a precedent for other countries, he added.
He further noted that the concerning developments in the Horn of Africa region were particularly alarming at a time when Somalia was demonstrating encouraging and tangible progress on its political and institutional trajectory.
The Federal Republic of Somalia has made notable strides in national reconciliation, constitutional reform and the revitalization of state institutions, he said, adding positive trends in the financial sector, particularly the efforts related to economic legislation and the move towards an inclusive one-person-one-vote election, represent important steps towards consolidating Somalian democracy and stability.