WASHINGTON, June 23: Foreign Secretary Riaz M. Khokhar said on Monday that sooner or later Pakistan will have to recognise Israel.
He told a press conference that “although that possibility is far off,” eventually “we will have to deal with it.”
But he emphasized that Pakistan’s relations with the Palestinian people “would always be at the top of agenda for us. Our Commitment to the Palestinian issue is second to none.”
He underscored that many Arab nations have recognised Israel.
Mr Khokhar said that at his meeting with President Bush on Tuesday President Musharraf would ask for F-16 aircraft, adding, “there is no harm in raising the issue.”
He said that Pakistan’s conventional arms capabilities have been reduced significantly and besides the F- 16s, “we need to upgrade our weapons capability.”
Referring to the Indian charges of cross-border terrorism, Mr Khokhar said that US Deputy Secretary of State Richrad Armitage was convinced that Pakistan has taken major steps to stop terrorists from crossing into India. However, he said, “there can be no hundred percent guarantees, no one can give that.”
He declared that Pakistan was under no pressure from the United States of any kind. “There is no such word as pressure on Pakistan, take this out of your vocabulary.”
On the issue of terrorism he said Pakistan had fully cooperated with the United States and the international community in combating terrorism and pointed out that more than 450 Al Qaeda suspects were handed over to the US.
