ISLAMABAD: The foreign office on Thursday reiterated Pakistan’s rejection of Israel’s recognition of Somaliland, a self-declared breakaway region of Somalia, calling the move illegal and warning it could destabilize the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea region.
Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 but is not recognized by the United Nations or the African Union. Israel’s recent steps to recognize the territory, along with visits by Israeli officials, have drawn criticism from Somalia and several Muslim-majority countries, which say the move violates Somalia’s territorial integrity and risks escalating tensions in a strategically sensitive region bordering major global shipping lanes.
Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar took up the issue during the 22nd Extraordinary Session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers held in Jeddah on Jan. 10, which was convened specifically to discuss recent developments related to Somalia.
“In his address, the DPM-FM strongly condemned the illegal and unlawful recognition by Israel of the Somaliland region, as well as subsequent unwarranted and highly provocative visits of Israeli officials to the territory,” the foreign office spokesman said in a weekly briefing.
