AMMAN — The UN Security Council, which Jordan presides over this month, will hold an open discussion session on Monday in New York on the situation in the Middle East.
Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh will chair the session, which will tackle the latest developments in the region, particularly regarding the Palestinian issue and the Syrian crisis.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and several foreign ministers of UN member states will participate in the session, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.
“We support the US efforts to create a political framework for the negotiations and we hope that US Secretary of State John Kerry’s efforts will succeed in achieving the goal of creating an independent, sovereign and viable Palestinian state,” Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications Mohammad Momani said, commenting on the peace process.
“This is a high and strategic national interest,” Momani, who is also the government spokesperson, told The Jordan Times in a phone interview.
“We appreciate the continuous communication between Jordan and the US administration on the progress of negotiations and we are in close contact with the Palestinians and in touch with the Israelis,” the minister said.
In reply to a question on Jordan’s participation in the Geneva II conference on Syria, Momani confirmed that the Kingdom will attend the meeting, which is slated for Wednesday.
“We are participating in the Geneva conference. Jordan will present its views regarding the Syrian crisis to the members of the Security Council, [in an attempt] to increase the Security Council’s and the international community’s level of engagement with the crisis,” he noted.
Jordan will urge all Security Council members to heed “the need for a credible, viable and political process that will end the bloodshed and restore stability and security in Syria and for the Syrian people”, said the minister.
“Jordan is in a perfect position to bring to the Security Council an objective and insightful assessment of the Syrian crisis,” noted Momani, reiterating that the Kingdom is already suffering because of the influx of Syrian refugees and the burdens posed by the presence of over 600,000 of them in the country.
Jordan will call on the international community to shoulder its responsibility towards the refugees, as it is playing its humanitarian role on behalf of the international community, he said, emphasising the heavy burdens on the Kingdom’s infrastructure and services, let alone the security challenges on the border with Syria.
Last week, India called for a peaceful end to the Syrian crisis.
“We have been extremely worried. The parties involved should avoid violence,” India’s External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid told reporters in New Delhi last Wednesday in reply to a question on the plight of Syrian refugees and the need to assist them and host countries.
“I will take part in the Geneva conference on Syria and I hope that India can make a push towards a solution. India will contribute to arriving at an appropriate solution,” the minister told journalists from West Asia and North Africa.
Khurshid added that, India, a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, is pledging $2 million in assistance to mitigate the effect of the Syrian crisis this year.
“We have constantly played a role for the benefit of rebuilding capacity in Syria. We are willing to assist. We do not accept telling societies how to conduct themselves. India has its own way,” the minister elaborated.
“We have our own way of giving comfort and we will continue to do that. Our position is consistent for any part of the world, especially through dramatic changes,” Khurshid noted.
“As friends, we have always advised towards infusion, reconciliation, healing of any wounds that happen because of any changes,” he added.
