ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani maintained that Pakistan’s decision regarding establishing relations with Israel would be determined with consideration of both Pakistan’s national interests and those of the Palestinian people.

The statement came in response to Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen’s remarks regarding normalisation of Israel’s relations with the Muslim world.

Cohen, as reported by Israeli media outlet Kan News, suggested that “six or seven” Islamic nations were likely to normalise ties with Israel, following Saudi Arabia’s potential inclusion in the Abraham Accords, which already involved the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan.

The Israeli minister also claimed to have met with leaders from several Muslim countries who have not recognised Israel yet.

Jalil, in response to the Israeli FM’s assertion, clarified that Cohen has not met with any Pakistani official in recent times.

In 2005, during the tenure of former president General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan’s then-foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri met with his then-counterpart Silvan Shalom in Turkey, Istanbul.

This was the first meeting that took place publicly and was a result of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an’s efforts.

However, no such meetings at the level of foreign ministers or higher have been reported in the media since then. A senior Pakistani diplomat, on the condition of anonymity, hoped that Pakistan would not have to make a decision on this matter in the near future.