International   

Musharraf defends Istanbul meet

B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD: Amid protests of "betrayal of Palestine cause" by religious parties over the Istanbul meeting,

President Pervez Musharraf said his country would not recognise Israel before the establishment of a Palestinian state. Defending the contact, Gen. Musharraf said, "We will not talk about recognition of Israel until a Palestinian state is established and then we will think about it. We will take people along. This is indirect contact."

The first ever contact between Islamabad and Tel Aviv at the level of Foreign Ministers has not exactly come as a surprise. The decision by Gen. Musharraf to accept the invitation by American Jewish Congress to address an "inter-faith" conference organised by it in New York on September 17 was a clear signal of the desire of Pakistan to explore establishment of diplomatic ties with Israel.

Mixed response

The issue of merits of recognition of Israel has been debated oft and on in Pakistan. Barring the religious parties and groups, the response to the debate has been mixed.

Pakistan's Foreign Secretary said Gen. Musharraf had informed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia on Tuesday about the meeting and that they both welcomed it as a "helpful initiative."

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Pakistan, Israel in landmark meet
Musharraf defends Istanbul meet
Schroeder rallies party for election
Colombo rejects LTTE offer on venue
Chimp's gene map highlights human link
Anti-nuclear activist dead
China against n-weapons
Detenus on hunger strike
India, France begin strategic dialogue today
Mani Shankar Aiyar in Oslo

Copyright © 2005, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu