Pakistan deny having diplomatic or trade relations with Israel
Pakistan’s Foreign Office and Ministry of Trade and Commerce on Sunday dismissed reports of any trade or diplomatic ties with Israel, saying Islamabad has no diplomatic and business ties with Tel Aviv, Geo News reported. told.
Islamabad’s response came days after the American Jewish Congress (AJC), an association of American Jews organized to protect Jewish interests abroad, announced that the first consignment of food products from Pakistan had been landed in Israel.
Reacting to reports of Pakistani goods being sold in Israeli markets, Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said there has been no change in Pakistan’s policy regarding the Jewish state, Geo News reported.
“There is no change in policy,” she insisted.
A commerce ministry spokesperson said the AJC press release was misquoted as it made no mention of Pakistan’s official trade relations with Israel.
The spokesperson said, “Rumours of starting Pakistan-Israel trade are pure propaganda. We neither have nor intend to start trade relations with Israel.”
Earlier, Fishel Benkhald, a Pakistani Jew based in the southern port city of Karachi, went viral for tweeting about his first kosher food shipment to Israel. The Times of Israel reported that the two countries do not have diplomatic relations.
“Congratulations to me as a Pakistani. I exported the first batch of Pakistani food products to the Israeli market,” he said last week.
Meanwhile, Commerce and Trade Secretary Sualeh Ahmad Farooqi confirmed to The News that Pakistan has not sent any export consignment to Israel, and any claim suggesting otherwise is just misinformation for political purposes, Geo News reported.
Customs officials at Karachi port also supported the trade secretary’s statement.
On March 30, the American Jewish Congress issued a statement on “trade between the State of Israel and Pakistan”, claiming that the first consignment from the country was received in Israel, Geo News reported.
“This week, the first consignment of Pakistani-origin food products landed in Israel, including one from Pakistani-Jewish businessman Fishel Benkhald, based in Pakistan’s business hub of Karachi, and three from Jerusalem and Haifa,” the statement said. Israeli businessmen were involved.” Reading.
The AJC said the two countries do not yet have diplomatic relations, but their entrepreneurs and technologists “have moved forward in pursuit of common prosperity”.
“Thanks to this initiative [the alleged first trade] eighteen years ago, the barriers and licenses that restricted Israel-Pakistan trade were abolished,” it added.
It may be noted that the controversy over Pakistan’s relations with Israel erupted last year over the alleged visit of a “Pakistani delegation” to Israel.
The FO spokesperson had clarified in a statement that “the disputed visit was organized by a foreign NGO which is not based in Pakistan” and that Pakistan’s position on the Palestinian issue was clear and unambiguous.
The spokesman had commented, “There is no change in our policy, on which there is complete national consensus. Pakistan firmly supports the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.”
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