ISLAMABAD: As many as 21 Islamic states including Pakistan and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) have joined hands in strong condemnation of their rejection of Israel’s recognition of the “Somaliland” region of Somalia, dubbing this move as tantamount to Israel’s “full and blatant disregard to international law.” In this context, the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Qatar, Turkiye, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, Algeria, Comoros, Djibouti, Gambia, Iraq, Libya, Maldives, Nigeria, Oman, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, and the OIC issued a joint statement on Sunday to register “unequivocal rejection of Israel’s recognition of the ‘Somaliland’ region of the Federal Republic of Somalia on 26 December 2025, given the serious repercussions of such unprecedented measure on peace and security in the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea, and its serious effects on international peace and security as a whole, which also reflects Israel’s full and blatant disregard to international law.” The 21 states and the OIC, through the joint statement, condemned in the “strongest terms of such recognition, which constitutes a grave violation of the principles of international law and the United Nations Charter, which explicitly stipulates the imperative of protecting the sovereignty of states and their territorial integrity, and reflects Israel’s expansionist.” The joint statement extended full support of the sovereignty of Somalia, and the unequivocal rejection of any measures that undermine the unity of Somalia, its territorial integrity or its sovereignty over its entire territory. “The recognition of parts of states constitutes a serious precedent and threatens international peace and security, and violates the cardinal principles of international law and the United Nations Charter,” the statement said. The aforementioned Islamic states and the OIC also fully rejected “any potential link between such a measure and any attempts to forcibly expel the Palestinian people out of their land, which is unequivocally rejected in any form as a matter of principle.” Copyright Business Recorder, 2025