ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Saturday said Pakistan was ready to commit its troops to the Gaza peace force, but distanced the South Asian country from any role in disarming the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
A cornerstone of the US-brokered Gaza Peace Agreement is the establishment of the International Stabilisation Force (ISF), composed mainly of troops from Muslim-majority countries.
Last week, the UN Security Council (UNSC) adopted a US-drafted resolution endorsing President Donald Trump’s plan to end the conflict in Gaza.
The plan also authorises the international peace force for the Palestinian enclave. Thirteen UN Security Council members, including Pakistan, voted in favour of the resolution, while Russia and China abstained.
However, Hamas rejected the resolution and also decried the establishment of an international force whose “mission includes the disarmament” of Palestinian resistance groups in Gaza.
Pakistan’s Deputy PM Dar said the matter of Hamas’ disarmament first came up during a meeting in Riyadh on the two-state solution. The Deputy PM was speaking at a press conference held on Saturday at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Peacekeeping, not peace enforcement
“We are not ready for that. This is not our job, but of the Palestinian law enforcement agencies. Our job is peacekeeping, not peace enforcement. We are definitely ready to contribute to the force — the Prime Minister has in principle already announced after consultation with the Field Marshal that we will contribute —, but this decision cannot be taken until it is decided what its [ISF] mandate and TOR (terms of reference) will be.”
Dar said Pakistan will not become a part of the Gaza peace force unless its mandate or Terms of Reference are clearly laid out.
“As per my information, if it will include disarming Hamas, then even my Indonesian counterpart has informally expressed his reservation.”
The Deputy PM said he was present at the initial talks when the matter of the force was raised, adding that Indonesia had offered 20,000 troops and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had also signalled “in principle” that Pakistan would positively consider its participation.
Talking about the ISF, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad had said at the UN Security Council vote that it could be stabilising only if it operated under a clear UN-consistent mandate.
Disarmament under unified Palestinian National Authority
Disarmament, he had said, must be carried out through a negotiated political process under a unified Palestinian National Authority.
The text of the resolution says member states can take part in the Board of Peace, envisioned as a transitional authority that would oversee the reconstruction and economic recovery of Gaza.
It also authorises the ISF, which would ensure a process of demilitarising Gaza, including by decommissioning weapons and destroying military infrastructure.
Trump’s 20-point plan is included as an annex to the resolution.
The Gaza Strip has been largely reduced to rubble after two years of Israel’s onslaught since October 7, 2023.
The resolution’s text also says that “conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood” once the Palestinian Authority has carried out a reform programme and Gaza’s redevelopment has advanced.
Pakistan ready to boost ties if Kabul acts against terrorists
Deputy PM Dar said that Pakistan is ready to expand cooperation manifold if Afghanistan’s Taliban regime takes concrete and verifiable action against terrorists operating from Afghan soil.
Dar said dialogue and diplomacy are the only way forward, and Pakistan’s sincerity in resolving issues with Afghanistan is beyond any doubt. To this, he mentioned his three visits to Kabul between April and August this year.
Ishaq Dar said the issue of terrorism cannot be resolved single-handedly by any country, but it needs cooperation and unity of effort.
He said Pakistan is considering the request received from the United Nations to allow humanitarian aid to Afghanistan and will try to allow the delivery of essential food relief, though the situation of Afghan-backed terrorist incidents in Pakistan claiming innocent, precious lives warrants no sympathy.
Dar said it was a mistake of the Taliban authorities to believe that Pakistan could not sort out the situation itself, saying the country had kinetic capabilities, but it would not be a “desirable” course of action to invade a brotherly country and wipe out problematic elements.
“The situation was possibly leading to that stage when this issue began. Qatar is a country whose foreign ministry was contacting me hourly at that time,” he said, adding that the Qatari prime minister and foreign minister were in touch with him “every hour”.
“They found out that we were about to take kinetic action. They requested that ‘please stop your side and we will do mediation and take responsibility and get the issue resolved.’”
Deputy PM Dar said he was grateful to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the Army Chief Field Marshal Munir for accepting his stance and “the cleanup operation that was about to happen that night — that would have surely taught them a lesson — was stopped”.
Despite that, Dar said nothing was gained from the negotiations mediated by Qatar and Turkiye. He said the mediators were themselves frustrated by the lack of progress in the talks.
He urged Kabul’s authorities that “dialogue and diplomacy” were the only way to solve current issues and called on the Afghan Taliban regime to reflect on its weaknesses and faults.
Referring to the shooting of two US National Guards by an Afghan national and attacks of Chinese workers in Tajikistan from Afghanistan, Dar warned that “the time is not far when Muslims and non-Muslims will unite to eliminate this terrorism.”
He said it was better for regional players to purge the area of terrorism before such a moment arrived.
The Deputy PM said there was a 50-50 divide in the Taliban ranks between the peacemakers and the warmongers.
He also said that he was working to restore delivery of relief goods, food, and essential humanitarian aid “for the sake of the Afghan people” on the request of the United Nations, adding that he had secured the army chief’s nod and only PM Shehbaz’s was needed now.
Matters nearly settled with EU mission
Talking about the current visit of a seven-member European Union delegation as part of the fifth Biennial Review of the GSP+ scheme and Pakistan’s progress so far, Deputy PM Dar said: “Nearly all of our matters have been satisfactorily handled; around six items are pending, of which three legislative actions it is hoped will be completed in the recent Parliament and Senate sessions.”
Dar said he had told EU officials in Brussels that its review group would “give a very positive report” upon their return from Pakistan.
The Deputy PM expressed hope that the review would be successful.
UAE visa issues
On the visa situation for Pakistanis looking to travel to the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf states, Deputy PM Dar said: “We are not sleeping. This issue has been raised many times. They’ve also shown their internal evidence that of the different nationalities involved in crime in the UAE, Pakistanis are at the top, unfortunately.”
The Deputy PM said the issue had reached such an extent at a certain point that even the visas of officials and ministers were refused.”
He said he had sent the reports of mass offloading of passengers to Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and would pursue the issue with him. However, he said it was not occurring “without reason”.
