Rabat — Pakistan’s Ambassador to Morocco, Syed Adil Gilani, clarified his country’s abstention in the recent UN Security Council vote on Morocco’s Autonomy Plan for Western Sahara, stressing that Pakistan has consistently supported the North African country’s territorial integrity while respecting UN procedures.
“Pakistan’s viewpoint has always been positive, never negative,” Ambassador Gilani told Morocco World News (MWN) in an exclusive interview today.
“We’ve always maintained that the Sahara belongs to Morocco. That is our principled position,” he said. “But there is a UN resolution which has to be followed.”
Pakistan was one of only three countries — including Russia and China — that abstained from Friday’s historic vote in favor of Morocco’s Autonomy Plan over its southern provinces.
The ambassador traced Pakistan’s support for Morocco back to the country’s independence, noting that his country played a role in 1952 in accelerating Morocco’s liberation from French rule.
Gilani explained that Western Sahara has remained under Morocco’s rule for more than 1,000 years, and the current dispute emerged from the French and Spanish colonial powers, which created divisions in the territory.
A turning point at the UN
The October 31 Security Council resolution marked a significant shift in the international approach to the Western Sahara issue. Resolution 2797 elevated Morocco’s 2007 Autonomy Plan from merely one option among many to the primary, sole basis for negotiation.
“The Morocco plan has now become a tool for negotiations to resolve the issue. That is the major difference,” Gilani said, describing the change as transformative after decades of stalemate.
Morocco’s Autonomy Plan secured support from three of the five permanent Security Council members — the US, France, and Britain. The other two veto-wielding powers, Russia and China, joined Pakistan in abstaining rather than voting against the resolution.
Why Pakistan abstained
Gilani provided a candid explanation for the tripartite abstention strategy. He believes that each country has territorial disputes and should make calculated moves, detailing that China faces its own issues over Taiwan, Pakistan confronts the ongoing Kashmir issue, and Russia deals with Ukraine and border conflicts.
The abstention can be inferred as a pragmatic position, with Pakistan taking into account how its actions will balance the power scales in regional conflicts. Abstention does not contradict its support for the Kashmir people’s right to self-determination, which they are paralleling with the situation of the Sahrawis in Tinfouf. Should Pakistan have voted in favor, it would put it at an impasse with Algeria, which currently supports Islamabad amid its confrontations with India. At the same time, an abstention helps Islamabad keep a balanced relationship with all parties to the dispute.
Furthermore, if Pakistan had voted for the resolution, that would put Islamabad at odds with New Delhi, as India will be using this against it whenever there is a legal confrontation between the two countries.
“China cannot go and support something which is against its own interest,” the ambassador said, adding that “Pakistan has its own Kashmir issue going on. Russia has Ukraine and border disputes where they have claims. They cannot directly vote for it.”
However, he stressed that the abstentions should not be interpreted as opposition. “By not voting against it, they are actually supporting this plan,” Gilani explained. “After the resolution passed, it became the law to be obeyed by all countries of the world.”
The ambassador revealed that Morocco’s Foreign Minister Nasse Bourita held discussions with Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar at the UN during meetings on the Gaza issue in late September and early October. A follow-up telephone conversation took place on October 20, which Gilani arranged between the two foreign ministers.
The road ahead
The ambassador stressed that the resolution’s passage doesn’t mean the issue is fully resolved. The UN mission in Western Sahara, MINURSO, has been extended for one year, during which negotiations will continue under the new framework.
“The referendum does not mean a referendum for separation but a referendum for consolidation,” Gilani clarified, explaining that “negotiations will be held within this framework.”
Pakistan will remain on the Security Council until December 2026, and the country’s ambassador expressed confidence that a final resolution will emerge within the next year.
Deepening bilateral ties
Gilani announced that Morocco’s foreign minister has accepted an invitation to visit Pakistan, possibly as soon as next month. He also disclosed that several Pakistani delegations are scheduled to visit Morocco in the coming weeks.
When asked as to whether Pakistan is considering opening a consulate in Morocco’s southern provinces, the ambassador particularly spoke of a bilateral political meeting scheduled for December, where discussions will revolve around Pakistan’s administrative presence in the region.
“After this Sahara issue, there will be a significant need for development in Western Sahara, which will require investment, manpower support, and technical support from all countries,” Gilani said. Pakistan, he added, would like to participate in developing the region.
The ambassador described Pakistan-Morocco relations as growing stronger and more frequent, with multiple high-level exchanges planned in the coming months. He noted that Morocco’s foreign minister confirmed his acceptance of the invitation to visit Pakistan on October 31 — the same day the Security Council passed the resolution.
“Pakistan has a long-standing relationship with Morocco,” Gilani concluded. “We are trying to have closer, better, and more frequent relations, and we have a lot of interaction going on.”
