'Baseless speculation': FO rejects reports claiming Pakistan under pressure to recognize Israel

  • The Prime Minister had stressed that Pakistan’s policy in this regard was rooted in Quaid-e-Azam’s vision, FO said.
Updated 17 Nov, 2020

Pakistan has rejected reports that Pakistan is under US pressure to recognize Israel.

In a statement today, the Foreign Office (FO) rejected the reports as fabrication. The statement continued that Prime Minister Imran Khan has clearly articulated Pakistan’s position that unless a just settlement of the Palestine issue, satisfactory to the Palestinian people, was found, Pakistan could not recognize Israel.

The FO said that the PM has stressed that Pakistan’s policy regarding Israel and Palestine was rooted in Quaid-e-Azam’s vision, and his remarks leave no room for baseless speculation.

"For a just, comprehensive and lasting peace, Pakistan will continue to support a two-state solution in accordance with the relevant United Nations and OIC resolutions as well as international law, with pre-1967 borders and Al-Quds Al-Sharif as the capital of Palestine," FO said.

Earlier, the Middle East Eye (MEE) reported that PM has said Pakistan is being pressurized by the US and other countries to recognize Israel, but the PM reiterated that will not open up relations with the 'Zionists'. In its report, MEE said the PM made these remarks last week while talking to local media.

"This influence was in fact extraordinary during the Trump stint," MEE quoted the PM. "I have no second thought about recognizing Israel unless there is a just settlement, which satisfies Palestine," the PM added.

Evading the question of whether any Muslim states were applying similar pressure on Pakistan, the PM replied that 'there are things we cannot say. We have good relations with them'. Earlier this year the UAE, Bahrain and Sudan normalized relations with Israel.

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