Pakistan on Sunday denied reports that any delegation from Pakistan visited Israel, stressing that Islamabad's position on the Palestinian issue was "clear and unambiguous" and there was no change whatsoever "in our policy" towards the Jewish state.
Responding to media queries regarding Israeli President Isaac Herzog's talks at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on May 26, in which he said he met a Pakistan delegation, the Foreign Office said that the visit was organized by a foreign NGO, which was not based in Pakistan.
"Pakistan's position on the Palestinian issue is clear and unambiguous. There is no change whatsoever in our policy on which there is complete national consensus. Pakistan steadfastly supports the Palestinian people's inalienable right to self-determination," the Tribune quoted the Foreign Office (FO) as saying.
"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, is imperative for just and lasting peace in the region," the FO said.
Herzog, while speaking about 'The Abraham Accords', brokered by the US President Donald Trump in 2020, had said in Davos that he met a delegation from South Asia in Israel that included two Pakistani American citizens. He did not reveal the identities of the members of that delegation.
He said that he received a delegation of Pakistani expatriates, who lived in the US "together with other members of other countries in their region", adding: "And I must say this was an amazing experience, we haven't had a group of Pakistani leaders in Israel in such scope."
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz, reported that a 15 member delegation, led by two civil society groups, visited Israel in order to promote interfaith harmony primarily between Muslims and Jews. The trip was organized by the American Muslim and Multifaith Women's Council and an NGO called Sharaka.
American-Pakistanis, a British Pakistani, Pakistan TV anchor Ahmed Qureshi and Pakistani Jew Fischel BenKhald were part of that delegation, the report said, adding that Qureshi and BenKhald entered Israel on their Pakistani passports, making it the first-ever trip of its kind.
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