Pakistan denies possibility of Musharraf-Sharon meeting
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Islamabad, Sept 3, IRNA
Pakistan-Palestine
Pakistan on Saturday denied the possibility of a meeting between President General Pervez Musharraf and his Israeli counterpart Ariel Sharon this month in the United States.
A private television channel, quoting the Foreign Office Spokesman Naeem Khan said he denied the possibility of such a meeting during the United Nations General Assembly session.
Some local media here hinted at a chance meeting between President Musharraf and Sharon.
Dawn newspaper quoted the US-based Pakistan Ambassador Jehangir Karamat as saying that there was no harm in the meeting as all heads of states and governments would be there.
However, the envoy said that such meeting was neither planned nor scheduled between the two leaders, according to the report.
Foreign Minister of Pakistan Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri met his Israeli counterpart Silvan Shalom on Thursday in Istanbul. It was the first formal high-level contact between the two countries.
Pakistan has no diplomatic relations with Israel and its passport is not valid for the Jewish state.
Some reports here see this meeting as a change in Pakistan's principle stand on Israeli issue and a step towards the recognition of he Zionist regime.
However, responding to the opposition's concerns, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told the Lower House of the Parliament that neither Islamabad had changed its policy nor it was on the move to recognize Tel Aviv.
He linked recognition of Tel Aviv with the creation of an independent Palestinian state and Israel's vacation of all occupied territories.
The Muttahida Majlis-e Amal, a platform of six mainstream religion -political parties saw the meeting as change in Pakistan's 58 years old policy and negation of the peoples aspirations.
2023/235/1430/1412
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