FO rejects media reports claiming Pakistan 'under pressure' to recognise Israel

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) rejected on Tuesday media reports that claimed Prime Minister Imran khan said Pakistan was under "pressure" by the United States to recognise Israel.

Terming the media reports to be 'fabricated', FO Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri stated in a press release that the prime minister had clearly articulated Pakistan’s position that unless a just settlement of the Palestine issue, satisfactory to the Palestinian people, was found, Pakistan could not recognise Israel.

“The Prime Minister had stressed that Pakistan’s policy in this regard was rooted in Quaid-e-Azam’s vision,” the communiqué added.

The prime minister’s remarks are an unequivocal reaffirmation of Pakistan’s position on the subject, leaving no room for baseless speculation, the spokesperson maintained.

“For a just, comprehensive and lasting peace,” the spokesperson said, “Pakistan would 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".

On November 13, it was reported that Prime Minister Imran Khan had revealed that he had been "under pressure" to recognise Israel, however, Islamabad will never establish relations with the "Zionist" state until a just settlement of the decades-long Palestinian issue.

In an interview with a private TV channel, PM Imran had refused to name the countries that have been pressuring him to recognise Israel.