Pak, Israel on way to establish diplomatic ties

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Pak, Israel on way to establish diplomatic ties

By: Kaswar Klasra | Published: August 13, 2010

ISLAMABAD – In a development that could trigger a serious political backlash against the government, Pakistan is said to have opened its camp office in Tel Aviv, while the two sides are engaged in a series of covert talks to find out possibilities to establish direct links, top-level diplomatic sources told TheNation.

Most interesting part of this episode is that a prominent politician who is also the chief of a religious party, has played vital role in bringing the two sides at a point which could lead Pakistan, following footsteps of Turkey, to recognise Israel in near future.

Sources told TheNation that Pakistani authorities including a prominent politician belonging to a religious party, have been holding talks with Israeli authorities, which took place in Paris and London recently. When contacted by this correspondent on telephone, FO Spokesperson Abdul Basit strongly denied such reports and saying Pakistan’s policy towards Israel was very much clear and it was using no backdoor channel to establish link with Israel.
It is pertinent to mention he
re that Pakistani authorities, keeping in view Israel ‘s position in global scenario, have many a time met Israeli authorities on different occasions in the past. Israel and Pakistan are key allies of the US, and there have been indications of warming ties between them.

In 2005, Israel’s then-foreign minister, Silvan Shalom met his Pakistani counterpart, Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, in Turkey, sparking protests from Islamic hard-liners in Pakistan. In September 2006, Musharraf had said Pakistan’s government would have to recognise Israel after an independent Palestinian state was established-but not before. “We cannot do something that sidelines us from the Muslim world,” Musharraf had said at that time. Another secret meeting between former President Musharraf and Israel’s defence minister took place in Paris in January 2008.

The two states have no diplomatic ties, and their officials rarely meet. But Musharraf and Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak held a scheduled 20-minute meeting in January 2008 in Paris.

Those meetings were followed by meetings held between Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasoori and his Israeli counterpart. It is on record that Foreign Ministry of Pakistan in 2008, following Musharraf-Barak meeting in 2008, confirmed the same meeting. And now, a chief of the religious party of Pakistan is said to have played most important role in making advancement to bring Pakistan close to Israel, said the credible sources.
In that interview with one of the leading Pakistani newspaper in 2005 Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres called upon the two countries to have “direct, personal contact, publicly, without being ashamed about it”.
The sensitivity that surrounds any move towards establishing diplomatic ties with Israel is evident from the choice of the word “engagement” rather than “relations”.

Some analysts believe that Pakistan was seriously thinking to establish diplomatic connection with Israel after Turkey recognized her. Also some of the analysts seem convinced that the road from Istanbul can only lead to formal recognition backed by full diplomatic relations.

“This is the first step towards eventual recognition of Israel,” they said. When asked what better way can there be for Pakistan to prove its moderate credentials by moving towards establishing some kind of ties with Israel, the analysts pointed out two immediate benefits that Pakistan might be seeking from its change of policy.

“What better way can there be for Pakistan to prove its moderate credentials by moving towards establishing some kind of ties with Israel” they ask. The second and far more important reason, they say, relates to the country’s defence policy and weapons requirements.

Pakistan has historically relied on US weaponry for its security needs, ignoring calls from independent experts, to diversify its weapons base. By moving towards a formal recognition of Israel, Pakistan can thus gain entry into an elite club - currently comprising US, India and Israel - with common security perceptions vis-a-vis the Middle East and South Asia.


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Warming up to Israel?

August 14, 2010

REPORTS that Islamabad is secretly hobnobbing with Israel in an attempt to initiate broader diplomatic ties are highly disturbing. These reports also point to the presence of a camp office in Tel Aviv for the same purpose. The Foreign Office has rejected any such possibility, but at the same time there is strong reason to believe that it might be planning on the same lines in an attempt to curry favour with the Americans. Besides, given Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood’s docile posturing, indeed in a manner more loyal than the king, fawning upon the Obama Administration, he could be expected to woo the Israelis. The Foreign Office would definitely be more than happy to extend a hand of friendship to Israel, given the US factor. The spadework of course had already been done by former President Pervez Musharraf who had openly tried to start diplomatic ties with Israel. The Istanbul meeting, in which Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri met with Israeli counterpart Silvan Shalom, followed by General Musharraf’s much hyped address to the Council for World Jewry in New York clearly showed their obsession to get in the good books of the Zionist entity.

But as the saying goes, the leopard can never change its spots; Israel remains as impudent and hostile as it was before. It is simply outrageous that Islamabad should be interested in establishing ties with a country that is virtually hell-bent on our destruction solely because of our Islamic character. Have we forgotten the Saudi Intelligence alarm that had warned us about the Indo-Israeli plan to blow up Kahuta and other nuclear installations shortly before we were about to conduct nuclear tests? Secondly, Israel regularly carries out extensive military exercises with New Delhi. There is absolutely no doubt that Israel hates us for being the only atomic power in the entire Islamic world. Most important of all, our stand should be based on Israel’s barbarous occupation of Palestinian lands. Palestinian men, women and children are slaughtered as if they were animals. Every human being with a conscience was shocked at the monstrous atrocity on board the aid flotilla taking emergency food and medical supplies for starving people in Gaza.

Under the circumstances, the government must not even flirt with the idea of getting close to Israel. Rather, a country that is in the lead when it comes to state terrorism and indeed takes pride in it must be isolated.


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