Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Sunday that Pakistan believed the recognition of the so-called “Somaliland” as an independent state by Israel was an act of “political aggression that sets a perilous precedent, threatening peace and security in the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea region, and beyond”. Dar said this while addressing the extraordinary session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s Council of Foreign Ministers in Saudi Arabia. His statement follows a joint statement by the OIC, which initiated its 22nd extraordinary session in Jeddah on Saturday. The moot has been convened against the backdrop of Israel recognising Somaliland as an independent and sovereign state, with Soma­liland’s president, Abdira­hman Mohamed Abdul­lahi, saying his state will join the Abraham Accords. Later, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar visited Somaliland, condemned by Somalia as an “unauthorised incursion”. Dar expressed Pakistan’s “unwavering support for the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Somalia” in his address today. “We strongly condemn the illegal and unlawful recognition by Israel of the Somaliland region of the Federal Republic of Somalia and the subsequent unwarranted and highly provocative visit of its foreign minister to Somaliland,” he said. More to follow