Islamabad rejects reports of Pakistani delegation visiting Israel

Reported visit in question was organised by a foreign NGO which is not based in Pakistan, says FO spokesperson

ISLAMABAD:

Islamabad has categorically rejected the notion of any delegation from Pakistan visiting Israel.

The Foreign Office spokesperson, in a statement on Thursday, said that the “reported visit in question was organised by a foreign NGO which is not based in Pakistan".

He said that Pakistan’s position on the Palestinian issue was clear and unambiguous.

“There is no change whatsoever in our policy on which there is a complete national consensus. Pakistan steadfastly supports the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination,” he remarked.

Read more: Israeli president confirms meeting delegation of Pakistani expats

The spokesperson said that the establishment of an independent, viable and contiguous Palestinian state with pre-1967 borders and Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, in accordance with the relevant UN and OIC resolutions, was imperative for just and lasting peace in the region.

The FO clarification comes amid media reports that a delegation of Pakistanis, including a former government minister, met Israeli Foreign Ministry officials in Jerusalem.

According to TRT World, the trip organiser said on Wednesday that the delegation included representatives from the American Muslims and Multifaith Women’s Empowerment Council and Sharaka, a US-based non-government group founded in the wake of the Abraham Accords, which was brokered by the Trump administration in 2020 and normalised relations between Israel and four Arab countries — the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco.

"Yes, I am in Jerusalem with a delegation to promote interfaith harmony," Nasim Ashraf, the head of the delegation, told The Associated Press by phone.

Ashraf used to be Pakistan's development minister and the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board.