Foreign Ministers of Pakistan, Israel Meet

The foreign ministers of Israel and Pakistan, a Muslim country that has long taken a hard line against the Jewish state, met publicly for the first time Thursday, a diplomatic breakthrough that both officials linked to Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said that after the Gaza pullout, it was “time for all of the Muslim and Arab countries to reconsider their relations with Israel.”

Shalom also said he hoped the Istanbul meeting -- initiated by Pakistan’s president, Pervez Musharraf, eventually would result in full diplomatic relations with Arab and Islamic countries.

“I am sure that this meeting will be followed by more meetings in the future,” Shalom said. “We hope that finally it will lead to full diplomatic relations with Pakistan, as we would like it with all Muslim and Arab countries.”

He said Israel has open diplomatic relations with only four Muslim countries: Turkey, Jordan, Egypt and Mauritania.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Mian Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri called the meeting “a gesture to underscore the importance that we in Pakistan attach to Israel ending its occupation of Gaza.”

“The meeting today does not mean recognition,” Kasuri said.

That point was emphasized by Musharraf in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital. He said the meeting “in no way means that we are recognizing Israel. We will not recognize Israel until it resolves the Palestinian issue.”

Pakistan backs a Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital.