LAHORE, Sept 30; Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri has said that recognition of Israel was linked to the establishment of an independent viable state with Jerusalem as its capital.

Talking to newsmen at the opening ceremony of the consulate of the Philippines in the provincial metropolis on Friday evening, he denied reports that an ambassador had been nominated for Israel. Ambassadors, he added, were nominated only where diplomatic relations existed.

He said that no decision had been taken in respect of recognition of Israel so far. The president and the prime minister had stated it repeatedly that the recognition was linked to the establishment of the independent Palestinian state.

Answering questions about the controversy over the Iranian nuclear programme, he said that Pakistan was opposed to the resolution of dispute through violent means. Iran was its old brotherly state and it wanted the controversy resolved through a dialogue.

Answering a question about gas pipeline, he said that Pakistan had received no negative signal from Iran about the project.

He said that Pakistan had suffered immensely on account of trouble in Afghanistan during the past 26 years. It was first invaded by the forces of the former Soviet Union. The Taliban came into power after the civil war following the pullout of Soviet forces but were ousted following the US intervention.

He said that four million Afghan refugees had entered Pakistan since the invasion of the Soviet forces and a large number was still living here. The impression that the Afghan refugees had returned to their homeland had proved wrong after a recent UNHCR survey showing that 3.1 million refugees were still living in Pakistan.

He said that there was no proposal to erect a fence on the entire Pak-Afghan border. A fence had been proposed only at a limited scale in areas where the border was crossed. The fence would be manned even if erected on a limited scale. There was already extensive military presence on the borders. As many as 80,000 Pakistan army personnel and 55 to 60 thousand US and European Union soldiers were deployed there.

Inaugurating the honorary consulate earlier, he said that Pakistan enjoyed an excellent relationship with the Philippines and other countries in the region. Interaction with the countries in the region had increased after the establishment of Saarc and ASEAN. The people of Lahore would greatly benefit from the opening of the Philippines consulate in the city.