Rejects speculation about Pakistan joining Abraham Accords during media talk in Washington
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar addresses the media at the Embassy of Pakistan in Washington DC on Friday. SCREEN CAPTURE
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday categorically rejected any idea of Pakistan joining the Abraham Accords, reiterating that there would be “no flexibility” in Islamabad’s position on the matter until the recognition of an independent Palestinian state.
“There are many rumors related to the Abraham Accord, let me clarify that Pakistan’s stance is very clear and consistent on this. Until Palestine is recognized on the pre-1967 model with Quds Al Sharif as its capital, there will be no flexibility,” Dar said while addressing the media at the Pakistani Embassy in Washington, DC.
The foreign minister was speaking after a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who acknowledged Pakistan’s “sincere diplomatic and mediation efforts” for peace and stability in the region.
Read: Top US diplomat Rubio affirms Pakistan’s ‘sincere’ diplomatic peace efforts to Foreign Minister Dar as Iran deal nears.
The clarification came days after US President Donald Trump said he had asked several countries, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan and Turkiye, to join the Abraham Accords to normalize relations with Israel.
In a lengthy social media post, Trump listed countries whose leaders he said he had spoken to about efforts to end the war with Iran.
“After all the work done by the United States to try to solve this complex puzzle, it should be mandatory for all of these countries, at a minimum, to simultaneously sign the Abraham Accords,” Trump wrote.
“The countries discussed are Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkiye, Egypt, Jordan and Bahrain,” he added.
Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to expand the agreements, which were negotiated during his first term.
The Abraham Accords are US-sponsored agreements that normalized relations between Israel and several Muslim-majority countries during Trump’s first term.
The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed the agreements in 2020, becoming the first Arab states in a quarter of a century to establish ties with Israel. Later, Morocco, Kazakhstan and Sudan followed suit.
Trump had previously expressed optimism that Saudi Arabia would also join the agreements following a ceasefire in Gaza last year, although Riyadh has not yet indicated its willingness to move forward. Egypt and Jordan already have diplomatic relations with Israel.
Read also: Trump links the Iran deal to the Abraham Accords
Pakistan has long maintained its support for an independent Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
Last year, after US special envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff suggested that other countries not previously “envisaged” were preparing to join the agreements, Pakistan again ruled out the possibility of recognizing Israel.
“We are not willing to recognize Israel until the two-state solution to the Palestinian conflict is accepted,” Dar had said at the time. “There is no change in our stated policy on the question of Palestine.”
He had also said that signing the Abraham Accords would amount to abandoning Pakistan’s long-standing demand for a Palestinian state with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, based on pre-1967 borders.
“Let it be clear to all that our seven-decade policy remains unchanged,” he had said.
