Pakistan and 18 other Arab and Islamic countries have strongly condemned Colombia’s decision to inaugurate an embassy in Jerusalem, calling the step a breach of United Nations Security Council resolutions and a blow to diplomacy aimed at a two-state solution.
In a joint statement issued Friday, the foreign ministers said they unequivocally rejected the Colombia Jerusalem embassy move. They stressed that any attempt to alter the legal or historical status of occupied Jerusalem, or to recognise it as Israel’s capital, is null and void and carries no legal effect.
Who joined the joint statement
The ministers speaking for Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Jordan, Indonesia, Türkiye, Algeria, Djibouti, Sudan, Syria, Somalia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Egypt and Yemen put their names to the rebuke. Together they framed Colombia’s inauguration of a mission in the city as contrary to international law as set out by the Security Council.
The group said the decision undermines work toward a just and lasting peace based on the two-state solution. For readers in Pakistan, the line matches Islamabad’s long-standing public position on Jerusalem’s status and Palestinian statehood.
What the ministers said about UN rules
The statement specifically cited UN Security Council Resolutions 476 and 478, adopted in 1980. Those texts, the ministers recalled, reject attempts to change Jerusalem’s character or status and call on countries not to treat such changes as valid—language the group applied to Colombia’s embassy opening.
In plain terms, the Security Council is the UN body that can adopt binding resolutions on peace and security. The ministers argued Colombia’s step conflicts with those older rulings and therefore should not be treated as changing Jerusalem’s legal standing.
Why the dispute matters beyond Bogotá
Jerusalem’s status remains one of the most sensitive files in Middle East diplomacy. Arab and Islamic capitals routinely oppose moves that appear to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the city or to relocate missions there. The joint protest places Pakistan inside a wider diplomatic front rather than as a lone critic.
Related coverage of the same diplomatic response is also on Zaviya at /world/pakistan-islamic-states-condemn-colombia-jerusalem-embassy.
What comes next will depend on whether Bogotá revisits the embassy decision and how other capitals respond. The joint statement itself does not spell out further steps beyond the formal rejection and the claim that the move has no legal effect.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Pakistan aur kai Arab aur Islamic mamalik ne Colombia ke khilaf mazammat ki hai. Colombia ne Jerusalem mein apni embassy kholne ka faisla kiya hai. In mamalik ka kehna hai ke yeh UN ke qanoon ke khilaf hai aur is ka koi qanooni asar nahi. Aam logon ke liye yeh diplomatik mauqaf hai; is se Pakistan mein petrol ya bill seedha nahi badalte.
