Pakistan to co-sponsor resolution at UN for withdrawal of US Jerusalem decision

Maleeha Lodhi says US move further destabilises an already volatile and violent situation in the region

The country’s permanent representative to the United Nations (UN), Maleeha Lodhi, said Pakistan would co-sponsor a resolution at the UN, calling for the withdrawal of US decision to recognise occupied Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, said Radio Pakistan.



Lodhi made the statement during a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Ambassadorial Group at the world body, which met to strategize its position ahead of the General Assembly's rare emergency session on Jerusalem's Status on Thursday.

“Pakistan's support to the Palestinian cause and to the defence of al Quds al Sharif is and has always been a core principle of its foreign policy,” she said.

Lodhi said the US move regarding Jerusalem undermines the international legal system and further destabilises an already volatile and violent situation in the region.

Pakistan UN envoy added, it not only diminishes the prospects of peace but will further embolden the occupying power into defiance.

The 193-member UN General Assembly will hold a rare emergency special session on Thursday at the request of Arab and Muslim states on US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, sparking a warning from Washington that it will “take names.”

Palestinian UN representative Riyad Mansour said the General Assembly would vote on a draft resolution calling for Trump’s declaration to be withdrawn, which was vetoed by the US in the 15-member UN Security Council on Monday.

The remaining 14 Security Council members voted in favour of the Egyptian-drafted resolution, which did not specifically mention the US or Trump but which expressed “deep regret at recent decisions concerning the status of Jerusalem.”

US Ambassador Nikki Haley, in a letter to dozens of UN states on Tuesday, warned that Washington would remember those who voted for the resolution criticising the US decision.



“The president will be watching this vote carefully and has requested I report back on those countries who voted against us. We will take note of each and every vote on this issue,” Haley wrote. She echoed that call in a Twitter post: The US will be taking names.”

Under a 1950 resolution, an emergency special session can be called for the General Assembly to consider a matter “with a view to making appropriate recommendations to members for collective measures” if the Security Council fails to act.