Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Tuesday that Pakistan’s leadership would decide about sending troops to support the “peace-keeping force” in Gaza, adding that Palestinian law enforcement agencies would be operating on the ground.
He shared this while answering a question about whether Pakistan would be deploying any troops in Gaza under a peace plan announced by US President Trump yesterday.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Dar also shared details Trump’s meeting with Muslim leaders last week on the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly’s (UNGA) 80th session.
The meeting[1], where Trump discussed his place for ending the Israeli onslaught in Gaza, brought together leaders from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Turkiye and Indonesia.
Dar began today’s press conference with outlining PM Shehbaz’s and his own engagements on the sidelines of the UNGA session.
He said the visit of Pakistan’s delegation to the US had two main purposes — one pertaining to activities at the UNGA and the other to work with some “like-minded countries” on trying to end the misery in Gaza as a “member of the Muslim ummah”.
“The prime minister was very clear [about it]. We had had consultations before leaving [for the US] as well. And eight countries, including Pakistan, agreed to take up this matter very proactively with President Trump during the US visit,” he said.
Dar said a preparatory meeting was held before Muslim leaders’ moot with Trump.
He added that the meeting with Trump was held with the objectives to try for a ceasefire in Gaza, make arrangements for sending humanitarian aid to the strip without any hurdles, stop the forced displacement of Palestinians and make arrangements for the return of those displaced from the Gaza, plan for Gaza’s reconstruction and stop Israel’s attempts to annex the West Bank.
“When these objectives were conveyed to him (Trump) and he was asked to work with us on achieving them,” Dar said, adding that the US president then proposed that his team would devise a “workable solution” with the foreign ministers of the eight Muslim countries that participated in the meeting.
He said it was decided that the details of meetings held in this regard would be “secret” and “classified”.
After sharing further details of how the proposal for ending the Israeli onslaught in Gaza was finalised, he said he had received messages from the Saudi foreign minister yesterday.
“He told me that five countries had reached a consensus on joint statement [regarding the Gaza plan] and that our agreement was needed on this matter as well, and that they had also reached out to Indonesia and the UAE.
“I then consulted the foreign secretary and proposed some changes. I spoke to the Saudi foreign minister again … as I had some objections … He then send me a revised version … and the joint statement was released.”
Dar highlighted that the Palestinian Authority had also welcomed the statement.
“On the one hand, the Palestinian Authority is welcoming this and on the other, [some over here] are criticising it,” he continued, apparently referring to strong reactions from some quarters to Trump’s peace plan.
Asked whether Pakistan would be deploying any troops in Gaza under the 20-point plan, he replied: “The idea is to have an independent Palestinian government of technocrats there. It will be overseen by an international oversight body, which, too, will mostly comprise Palestinians. Or, as you know, Tony Blair has been making efforts in this regard. He hasn’t been successful till now, but he might get an opportunity now.
“The force [here] is peace-keeping force. On ground, there will be Palestinian law-enforcement agencies … there will be [separate] forces supporting them. Indonesia has offered 20,000 troops for that. I am sure Pakistan’s leadership will also be making a decision on this.
“And we have asked them to document the arrangement, whatever it is, at the [UN] Security Council.”
More to follow