File photo
Foreign Office says the matter is currently ‘not under consideration’
Rejecting as “baseless” ongoing speculation about Pakistan inching closer to recognizing Israel, Pakistan’s Foreign Office on Tuesday clarified that the matter was not currently under consideration.
In a statement issued in response to ongoing media queries on the situation—especially in light of reports that Gulf kingdom Saudi Arabia might soon follow the U.A.E. in recognizing the Jewish state—the Foreign Office said that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s statement on the matter had “been clear and unequivocal.” It noted that the prime minister had “made it clear that unless a just settlement of the Palestine issue, satisfactory to the Palestinian people, is found, Pakistan cannot recognize Israel.”
Earlier this month, some media outlets had claimed that the prime minister had admitted to being “under pressure” to recognize Israel. However, in a rebuttal, the Foreign Office had said that the prime minister’s response to questions on recognizing Israel were rooted in the vision of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah.
“Pakistan steadfastly supports the Palestinian peoples’ inalienable right to self-determination,” read the Foreign Office statement. “For just and lasting peace, it is imperative to have a two-state solution in accordance with the relevant United Nations and OIC resolutions, with the pre-1967 borders, and Al-Quds Al-Sharif as the capital of a viable, independent and contiguous Palestinian State,” it added.