FO spokesperson refuses to comment on ‘Pakistan-Israel secret ties’

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch has refused to comment on a question regarding the secret ties between Pakistan and Israel, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

While talking to the ARY News programme ‘Khabar’, the FO spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said that she does not want to give a comment on the question related to secret ties between Pakistan and Israel.

She said that Pakistan has a clear stance on Israel, however, the country would make a decision in its interest at an appropriate time. Baloch added that there is no need to guide Pakistan as the country takes all decisions in its interests.

The FO spokesperson clarified that no one can expect or pressure Pakistan to make a decision regarding Israel.

Baloch said that Pakistan wants resolution of the Palestine dispute. She continued that she could not comment on the policy of other countries regarding Israel.

Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said Pakistan does not take an advice from any other country regarding Saudi Arabia and Israel ties.

To another question, Baloch said that Pakistan shared dossiers regarding Indian terrorism with the UN and friendly countries. The country had also shared the dossiers with the United Nations (UN) and ally nations after Lahore attack.

She added that Pakistan has always shared evidence of Indian terrorism with the international community.

Saudi Arabia, Israel talks

Yesterday, it emerged that Saudi Arabia, which has engaged in US-brokered talks with Israel to potentially normalise relations, sent a delegation to the occupied West Bank for the first time in three decades.

It was led by the Saudi non-resident ambassador to the Palestinian territories, Nayef al-Sudairi, who was to meet Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and top Palestinian diplomat Riyad al-Maliki, AFP reported.

Sudairi, the oil-rich kingdom’s envoy to Jordan, was last month also named for the Palestinian territories post and appointed consul general for Jerusalem.

The delegation, which crossed overland from Jordan, was the first from Saudi Arabia to visit the West Bank since the 1993 Oslo Accords, which had aimed to pave the way for an end to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

The Saudi visit comes as Washington has been leading talks between Israel and Saudi Arabia — guardian of Islam’s two holiest sites — on a normalisation that would mark a game changer for the Middle East.

The talks include security guarantees for Saudi Arabia and assistance with a civilian nuclear programme, according to officials familiar with the negotiations who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity.

Israel in 2020 established ties with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco, but Saudi Arabia has so far refrained from following suit until Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians is resolved.

However, the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, last week said the two sides were “getting closer”.