Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has said that Pakistan is a nuclear power and will defend its sovereignty at all costs if attacked, regardless of which country is responsible.
In an interview with Al Jazeera in Doha on the sidelines of the Arab-Islamic emergency summit, Dar described the recent Israeli strike on Qatar as a grave action against international law, the UN Charter, and the sovereignty of Muslim countries.
He warned that if the Muslim world limits itself to statements alone, countries representing 2 billion Muslims will appear to have failed in the eyes of their people.
Dar said Israel has become an uncontrollable state that is challenging the sovereignty of one Muslim country after another. "You have seen Lebanon, Syria, Iran and now Qatar attacked. This approach is unacceptable," he said, adding that Qatar was engaged in US and Egyptian-mediated peace talks at the time of the strike and that the attack was intended to sabotage that process.
Referring to a meeting of the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, he said this is not the time for resolutions and statements only; a clear action plan is needed outlining what measures will be taken if Israel does not stop its aggression.
He said Pakistan, together with Somalia and Algeria, immediately sought a special session of the UN Security Council and also mobilized the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Ishaq Dar said military action is a last resort, and Pakistan's priority has always been peace, dialogue and diplomacy. However, if dialogue fails and the aggression does not stop, effective practical measures will be necessary, "which could include economic sanctions, legal action, or formation of a regional security force."
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