ISLAMABAD, Dec 8: The Foreign Office moved swiftly to reject reports in a section of the local media on Thursday that Pakistani embassies abroad, on instructions from Islamabad, had started issuing invitations to their Israeli counterparts for official functions.

“It is clarified that this news item is purely speculative and that no instructions have been issued to Pakistan’s diplomatic missions abroad to include Israeli diplomats in their functions,” a Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday.

Apparently reports in the Israeli media have claimed that after the first formal diplomatic contact between Israel and Pakistan, the Pakistani missions abroad have started extending invitations to Israeli diplomats.

In a major move Islamabad established the first formal contact with Tel Aviv on September 1, 2005, when foreign ministers of the two countries met in Istanbul.

Reportedly Israel’s Daily Yedoit Ahronoth maintained: “Pakistani missions have started to formally invite diplomats from the Jewish country to their receptions, signalling Islamabad’s desire to forge relations with the Jewish state.”

Islamabad has consistently maintained that the future direction of Pakistan-Israel ties would depend largely on the progress made on the Palestinian issue and vacation of Palestinian territory by the occupation troops.

Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam categorically stated at a recent weekly news briefing that the question of Israel’s recognition would be considered only once an independent and viable Palestinian state is established.—Q.A.