Pakistan President Arif Alvi on Thursday made an abrupt U-turn on his stance on the Palestinian issue after his controversial ‘one-state solution’ for Palestine sent shockwaves across the country, leading to calls for his resignation.

In a conversation with Saleh bin Abdullah Humaid, Imam Khatib at Masjid Al-Haram and Adviser at Saudi Royal Courts of Saudi Arabia, Alvi said that Pakistan supports a just and peaceful resolution to the conflict that was based on the ‘two-state solution’, according to an official statement. 

“President Dr Arif Alvi has reiterated that Pakistan firmly supports a just and peaceful resolution of the Palestine issue, based on the two-state solution. He said that the world must realize the pain of the Palestinian people and play its role in ending the Israeli atrocities in Gaza that had killed thousands of innocent people, including women and children,” said an official release by the Pakistani presidency.

Meanwhile, Humaid also said that the Muslim world had adopted a unanimous stance on the Palestine issue that the Palestinians should be given their due rights based on the two-state solution and called for ending hostilities and extending humanitarian and diplomatic support to Gaza. 

The meeting was also attended by Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Pakistan Nawaf bin Saeed Ahmad Al-Malkiy. Alvi thanked Saudi Arabia for providing economic support, humanitarian aid and development aid to Pakistan in difficult times.

Alvi’s ‘one-state solution’ for Palestine

Earlier, Alvi courted controversy by proposing a ‘one-state solution’ for Palestine during a telephonic conversation with his Palestinian counterpart, marking a significant departure from the established policy on the conflict.

A press release published on November 10 referred to Alvi’s conversation with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in which he said, “If the two-state solution was not acceptable to Israel, then the one-state solution was the only way where Jews, Muslims and [a] good percentage of Christians could live to exercise equal political rights.”

The caretaker government of Pakistan distanced itself from the President’s remarks. Caretaker foreign minister Jalil Abbas Jilani on Tuesday, in the Pakistani Senate, said that Alvi’s controversial proposal was not in line with the country’s principled and historic stance on the issue after Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Raza Rabbani demanded the President step down over the row.

Jilani also said that the President did not seek any input before issuing the release from his ministry, which had issued a clarification soon after the remarks were made public. The clarification has been forwarded to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and other concerned organisations.

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