ISLAMABAD: While there are reports that many Muslim nations are going to normalize their relations with Israel and a few have already done so, Pakistan says such a decision would be made keeping in mind both Pakistan’s national interests and those of the Palestinian people.
This was stated by caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani in a statement in response to Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen’s remarks regarding normalisation of Israel’s relations with the Muslim world.
Cohen suggested that “six or seven” Islamic nations were likely to normalize ties with Israel, following Saudi Arabia’s potential inclusion in the Abraham Accords, involving the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.
The caretaker foreign minister said his Israeli counterpart had not met 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 his then counterpart Silvan Shalom in Turkey.
Observers say normalization of relations with the Zionist state will be in the interest of Pakistan. This is true when most if the Muslim world is going to forget the past and set in new diplomatic journey keeping in view the changing geo-political landscape in the region.
Moreover, if Saudi Arabia decides to recognize Israel, there would be no justification for Islamabad to continue the collision course and neither it can sustain it for long.
However, there could be a severe public reaction if the decision is taken without proper homework.
Anyway, in the end, Pakistan has to follow other Muslim nations but not without ensuring the rights of the Palestinian people.
This aspect has also been stressed by Saudi crown prince Muhammad bin Salman in a recent interview.
On the other hand, a report in the international media quotted the Israeli foreign minister as saying that six to seven countries are also ready to normalize ties with Israel if Riyadh signs a deal with his country. He claimed that these countries are in Asia and Africa, but did not name them.
He also claimed that he had recently met top diplomatic officials from these countries and they were interested in recognizing Israel and normalize relations with it.
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