ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar, will travel to Saudi Arabia to attend an extraordinary meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Jeddah on January 10, the Pakistani foreign ministry said on Friday.
“The session will address the implications of Israel’s recognition of the so-called Somaliland region of the Federal Republic of Somalia,” it said.
During the session, the Deputy Prime Minister will share Pakistan’s position on the issue of Somaliland.
It added that Ishaq Dar will also hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from OIC Member States to discuss further cooperation on regional and international issues.
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Curtain Raiser: Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister to Attend Extraordinary Session of OIC Council of Foreign Ministers in Jeddah 9-11 January, 2026 https://t.co/RFQcqOHx9H
🔗⬇️ pic.twitter.com/bx2JLLj3PS— Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan (@ForeignOfficePk) January 9, 2026
The meeting at the OIC headquarters in Jeddah aims to reaffirm the OIC’s unwavering support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Somalia, in line with international conventions and relevant OIC resolutions.
Israel, on December 25, formally recognised Somaliland as an “independent and sovereign state” and signed an agreement to establish diplomatic relations, as the region’s leader welcomed what he described as its first official recognition.
Somaliland, which declared independence from Somalia in 1991, has for decades pushed for international recognition, the key priority for President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi since he took office last year.
Several other countries condemned Israel’s decision. The African Union (AU) rejected the move and warned that it risked “setting a dangerous precedent with far-reaching implications for peace and stability across the continent”.
Somaliland “remains an integral part” of Somalia, an AU member, said the pan-African body’s head, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the decision was “in the spirit of the Abraham Accords”, referring to a series of agreements brokered by US President Donald Trump in his first term that normalised ties between Israel and several Arab nations.
Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has described the move as a serious threat to national unity.
