Will Pakistan normalise ties with Israel? Defence Minister Khawaja Asif's answer raises eyebrows

One of the countries which swore off any diplomatic relationship with Israel, Pakistan could change its stance, if Defence Minister Khawaja Asif's statement is anything to go by.

 

Asif's statement during a TV interview has triggered speculations that a normalisation of relations with Israel cannot be entirely ruled out. During an interview on the show "Nadim Malik Live" on the Pakistani television network "Samaa TV", Asif was asked whether there was pressure on Pakistan to join the Abraham Accords. 

 

The Abraham Accords are a set of agreements brokered by the United States, primarily involving Israel and several Arab nations, that led to the normalisation of relations between them. The initial agreements were signed in 2020 between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, while Morocco and Sudan later joined. There are also reports that Syria, under the new President Ahmed al-Sharaa, could also be joining the Accord.

 

Though Pakistan has so far ruled out any possibility of joining the Abraham Accords, Asif's reply has raised eyebrows. "We will think about it when we are asked to be part of this agreement. If there is pressure regarding the Abraham Accords, we will examine our interests," he stressed. "If we become mere spectators and not players, it will be a loss in the current global situation. We are part of the game," he told Samaa TV.

 

US President Donald Trump's son-in-law and an advisor during Trump's first stint, Jared Kushner, had named Pakistan and Indonesia as potential partners for normalisation with Israel as part of the Abraham Accords.

 

Besides, there is also chatter on social media that Pakistani national television is taking up the Abraham Accords continuously these days.  

That said, there is a general caution among the leaders when it comes to the subject.  Rana Sanaullah, advisor to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, recently said that Pakistan should back Saudi Arabia, Turkiye over the Abraham Accords. Both countries have a complex stance on the Accords as they have not explicitly endorsed the Accords nor outrightly rejected it. 

 

However, Pakistan Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar had strongly ruled out any possibility of Pakistan joining the Abraham Accords, claiming that such a move would amount to abandoning Pakistan's long-standing support for a two-state solution to the Palestinian issue as a condition to recognise Israel.

Middle East