KARACHI, Pakistan
Pakistan on Monday observed its National Day alongside calls for solidarity with Palestinians and resolution of a mounting Middle East conflict through "dialogue" and "diplomacy."
This year, the day lacked the traditional fervor as the government postponed several events, including a military parade, as part of austerity measures launched last week to cope with the impacts of oil shortages caused by the spiraling armed conflict in the Middle East.
The day dawned with 31-gun salute in the capital Islamabad, and 21-gun salute in the four provincial capitals, northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Change-of-guard ceremonies were held at the mausoleums of the country's founding leader Mohammad Ali Jinnah in the commercial capital Karachi and of national poet Allama Mohammad Iqbal in the northeastern city of Lahore.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif presided over a flag-hoisting ceremony in Islamabad.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Sharif, in their messages, called for a resolution of the Middle East conflict through "dialogue" and "diplomacy.
Zardari also urged the international community to work to resolve the lingering Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions.
Sharif expressed "full" solidarity with the people of Palestine, saying Islamabad remains deeply concerned about the raging tensions in the Middle East.
"We firmly believe that negotiations are the path to lasting peace," he added.
Islamabad will continue to extend "moral, political, and diplomatic" support to the Kashmiris' struggle for their right to self-determination, Sharif noted.
Held annually in Lahore on March 23, the event commemorates the 1940 independence resolution -- commonly known as the Pakistan Resolution -- which demanded for the first time an independent state, comprising Muslim-majority states in the then-United India under British colonial rule.
The passing of the landmark resolution subsequently led to the creation of Pakistan on Aug. 14, 1947, marking the end of over 150 years of British colonial rule.