Pakistan's Normalization Talks with Israel ‘Fake News,’ Says Khan
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Pakistan will refuse to recognize Israel until Palestinian rights are guaranteed, Prime Minister Imran Khan said.
In a wide-ranging interview with a local TV news channel on Friday, the Pakistani leader said, “Pakistan is a democratic society — and our entire nation stands with the Palestinians.”
Khan’s comments follow Israeli media reports this week that a “senior adviser to the leader of a large Muslim-majority country in Asia” had visited Tel Aviv two weeks ago to discuss the potential normalization of relations.
“We will never recognize Israel until the Palestinians get their rights,” Khan told a Samaa television interviewer.
“Why would anyone go from Pakistan when it’s our policy that we don’t recognize Israel?” he added.
“What’s a minister going to do there? This is absolutely fake news.”
Khan’s comments were broadcast hours after Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, rejected reports the same day claiming Pakistan and Israeli officials had recently been in talks in Tel Aviv.
Qureshi was speaking to press during a state visit to Abu Dhabi.
On Wednesday, Zulfikar Bukhari, Khan’s special assistant for overseas Pakistanis, dismissed rumors that he had visited Israel after online reports of an alleged meeting went viral.
