'Cannot be trusted...': Pakistan issues first response on Trump’s offer to normalise ties with Israel, Khawaja Asif says...
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "'Cannot be trusted...': Pakistan issues first response on Trump’s offer to normalise ties with Israel, Khawaja Asif says...")
Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif with a combination photo of Trump, Asim Munir and Shehbaz Sharif Photograph: (AFP)
Pakistan has refused to commit to joining the Abraham Accords, with Defence Minister Khawaja Asif saying Islamabad would not support agreements that clash with its “fundamental ideologies.” His remarks came after Trump urged Pakistan to normalize ties with Israel
A day after US President Donald Trump asked Pakistan to join the Abraham Accords, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has stated that Islamabad would not support any agreement that conflicts with the country's “fundamental ideologies”, reported Pakistani media. In an interview with Pakistani broadcaster Samaa TV, Asif was asked about the possibility of Pakistan signing onto the Abraham Accords following reported pressure from US President Donald Trump. While Asif clarified that he is speaking in personal capacity, the Pakistani government has not yet issued any official statement on the same.
What Khawaja Asif said?
"Personally, I don't think we should join any such accord that clashes with our fundamental ideologies," Asif said during the interview. Questioning the credibility of engagement with Israel, the Pakistani Defence Minister added, "How will you sit down with those people whose word cannot be trusted even for a single day?" He further reiterated Islamabad's long-standing position on the issue, saying, "We have a very clear stance that this is not acceptable to us." Asif also pointed to Pakistan's passport policy regarding Israel, underscoring the country's refusal to recognise the Jewish state (Israel). "And secondly, on our passports, we are the only country whose passports don't even include Israel's name," he said.
What Trump said
US President Donald Trump, while hinting that negotiations with Iran are “proceeding nicely", insisted that six Muslim-majority countries must join the Abraham Accords which means signing of agreements normalising ties with Israel ahead of any deal between the US and Iran to end the war. The same was earlier reported by Axios. Trump said that expansion of the accords “should start with the immediate signing by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and everybody else should follow suit.” He added that during discussions with leaders of Muslim and Arab states, he told them that “after all the work done by the United States to try and pull this very complex puzzle together, it should be mandatory that all of these Countries, at a minimum, simultaneously, sign onto the Abraham Accords.” “The Abraham Accords have proven to be, for the Countries involved (The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan, and Kazakhstan), a Financial, Economic, and Social BOOM, even during this time of Conflict and War, with the current Members never even suggesting leaving, or taking so much as even a pause,” he wrote in a lengthy post on Truth Social.
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