PM warns of Gaza war’ spill-over effect

Kakar terms Iraeli assault clearly a genocide campaign

ISLAMABAD:

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar on Wednesday called for enhanced engagement with the Western capitals to make Israel realise that the Gaza war could have a spill-over effect beyond the region.

In an interview with Arab News published on Wednesday, the prime minister labelled Israel’s assault on Gaza in retaliation to Hamas raids on October 7, as clearly a “genocide” campaign, and called for an immediate “cessation of violence” there.

“We need to engage with different Western capitals, particularly Washington and London, and they need to make realise the Israeli side that they are contributing to destabilise not just the region, but probably it would have a spill-over effect beyond the region,” Kakar said.

“You can’t just kill children and say that you have got the right to defend yourself. It’s the licence to barbaric retaliation,” he said, adding that he would visit Riyadh this weekend for an extraordinary session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to discuss Israeli attacks on Palestine.

When asked if the Pakistan received any requests from the United States to soften its stance against Israel, Kakar said he was not aware of any such request. “I don’t think so any government would listen to any such request … it’s absurd to even think of requesting someone to be silent on such an account.”

Asked whether the Muslim nations were doing enough for Gaza, Kakar raised questions about the role of the world’s estimated 1.8 billion Muslims, who make up 24% of the global population, in “facing the kind of situation which we are in”.