ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) - Pakistan’s foreign office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi on Thursday condemned attacks on commercial vessels in the Bab Al-Mandab Strait, describing them as a violation of international law and reaffirming Islamabad’s commitment to its defense cooperation with Saudi Arabia.
Pakistan is among 14 countries that last Thursday backed the establishment of a Saudi-led multinational maritime defense alliance aimed at protecting shipping routes through the Bab Al-Mandab Strait, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
The Bab Al-Mandab is a 20-mile-wide, 70-mile-long strait between the Horn of Africa and the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. It links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and is one of the world’s busiest maritime chokepoints, carrying about 12 percent of global trade.
“We have condemned attacks on vessels belonging either to Saudi Arabia or to any other countries because, essentially, these are commercial vessels,” Andrabi said during a weekly press briefing.
He was talking about attacks on commercial vessels in the Bab Al-Mandab Strait.
“Attacks on them are a blatant violation of international law and go against the safety and security of commercial maritime traffic,” he added.
Andrabi said defense cooperation between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia will continue. Andrabi warned that the standoff in the Strait of Hormuz is complicating efforts to achieve a sustainable settlement for the broader crisis engulfing the Middle East and the Gulf region, particularly tensions between Iran and the US.
“The resolution of the standoff in the Strait of Hormuz will obviously create a conducive environment for the parties to return to the Islamabad MoU and the framework of talks as envisaged in the Pakistan-Qatar joint statement,” he said.