Pakistan and Palestine have agreed to constitute a joint commission
to expand existing political cooperation into other areas including
economy‚ agriculture‚ banking and education and social and cultural
sectors.
The agreement came at talks between President Asif Ali Zardari and his Palestinian counterpart Mahmood Abbas in Islamabad on Sunday.
The Foreign Ministers of two countries will head the commission.
The two leaders also held a one on one meeting before delegation level talks.
The talks covered a wide range of issues including status of the ongoing struggle of Palestinians for statehood‚ situation in Middle East stalled peace process‚ issues in Palestine-Israel relations and bilateral relations.
President Zardari said that Pakistan believes in right of self-determination as inalienable right of the Palestinian people as well as the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
He said that Pakistan had supported all efforts aimed at resolving Palestinian dispute in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions for lasting peace in the region.
President Zardari said that Pakistan called for total withdrawal of Israel from all occupied Arab territories including Jerusalem‚ end the settlements‚ restitution of the inalienable rights to Palestine‚ and establishment of an independent homeland for Palestinians with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as capital.
President Mahmoud Abbas briefed President Zardari how Israel had used the split between the West Bank and the Gaza strip to renege on the peace process and the antics resorted to by Tel Aviv after Palestinian leadership undertook efforts for achieving national reconciliation.
He said that Palestine had accepted the two-state solution since 1988 as a basis for ending the Palestine-Israel conflict and that they will continue to work to realize this goal through negotiations.
However‚ the two-state solution was becoming increasingly unattainable because of the Israeli unacceptable settlement policies.
Mahmoud Abbas also briefed President Zardari about the Arab Peace Initiative that also addressed Israeli concerns but had been ignored by Israel.
The agreement came at talks between President Asif Ali Zardari and his Palestinian counterpart Mahmood Abbas in Islamabad on Sunday.
The Foreign Ministers of two countries will head the commission.
The two leaders also held a one on one meeting before delegation level talks.
The talks covered a wide range of issues including status of the ongoing struggle of Palestinians for statehood‚ situation in Middle East stalled peace process‚ issues in Palestine-Israel relations and bilateral relations.
President Zardari said that Pakistan believes in right of self-determination as inalienable right of the Palestinian people as well as the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
He said that Pakistan had supported all efforts aimed at resolving Palestinian dispute in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions for lasting peace in the region.
President Zardari said that Pakistan called for total withdrawal of Israel from all occupied Arab territories including Jerusalem‚ end the settlements‚ restitution of the inalienable rights to Palestine‚ and establishment of an independent homeland for Palestinians with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as capital.
President Mahmoud Abbas briefed President Zardari how Israel had used the split between the West Bank and the Gaza strip to renege on the peace process and the antics resorted to by Tel Aviv after Palestinian leadership undertook efforts for achieving national reconciliation.
He said that Palestine had accepted the two-state solution since 1988 as a basis for ending the Palestine-Israel conflict and that they will continue to work to realize this goal through negotiations.
However‚ the two-state solution was becoming increasingly unattainable because of the Israeli unacceptable settlement policies.
Mahmoud Abbas also briefed President Zardari about the Arab Peace Initiative that also addressed Israeli concerns but had been ignored by Israel.
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