FO strongly denies ‘Israel trade rumors’.
It is reported that the country’s position regarding the Jewish state has not changed.
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan has denied allowing any trade with Israel and stated that its stance toward the Jewish state has not changed.
The denial was made in response to a recent statement by the American Jewish Congress (AJC) about the alleged dumping of a shipment of food products with a Pakistani provenance in Israel being posted on social media.
Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, a spokeswoman for the foreign office, issued a terse statement that read, “There is no change in the policy: Pakistan does not have diplomatic or trade connections with Israel.
The Ministry of Commerce stated separately that the press release from the American Jewish Congress was misinterpreted and that rumors regarding the start of trade between Pakistan and Israel are pure misinformation.
The statement added, “Even in their press release, they nowhere acknowledged official trade between Pakistan and Israel.” It further stated that Pakistan has no current trading links with Israel and has no plans to establish any.
Fishel Benkhald, a Jewish Pakistani, delivered food samples to three businesspeople in Jerusalem and Haifa via the UAE. Benkhald had met these merchants while attending cuisine festivals in other nations.
However, the Pakistani government did not endorse it, and neither a banking nor an official channel participated in the activity.
Also, we will strictly enforce the issue of origin in our discussions with the UAE. According to the statement, traders from the UAE to Israel have profited from the UAE’s reduction of duties on 96% of the commodities traded with Israel.
The allegation originally came to light when Benkhald asserted on Twitter that he was the first to transport edible goods from Pakistan to Israel. Several people had responded strongly to the message online, supposing that the trade was related to a change in how they felt about Israel.
A rumored trip by a “Pakistani group” to Israel last year also sparked debate regarding Pakistan’s relations with that country.
In a statement, the FO spokesperson made it clear that the “alleged visit in question was organized by a foreign NGO which is not located in Pakistan” and that Pakistan’s position on the Palestinian issue was unmistakable and clear.
Pakistan staunchly supports the Palestinian people’s unalienable right to self-determination, the spokesperson had said. “There is no change in our position at all on which there is complete national unanimity,” the spokesperson had said.
Profiting on the incident, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and opponents of the existing administration charged the PDM with carrying out the “regime change” promises.
The Imran Khan administration first gave the Pakistani Jew permission to visit Israel, the government’s supporters pointed out in retaliation to the PTI.
