Donald Trump asked Pakistan to join the Abraham Accords and recognise Israel, linking it to any formal peace deal with Iran. Pakistan signalled resistance, with Khawaja Asif saying its fundamental ideologies could not be compromised.
On Monday, US President Donald Trump left Pakistan at a crossroads, demanding that it join the Abraham Accords and formally recognise Israel. Trump linked it to any formal peace deal with Iran. It left Pakistan in a Catch-22 situation – snub Trump at its own peril or recognise its rival Israel. It seems to have chosen the former, with Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif saying compromising on its “fundamental ideologies” was unacceptable.
For Pakistan, it is arguably the trickiest paradox. Pakistan has never recognised Israel in its 78-year history. This prevents its citizens from travelling to Israel on a Pakistani passport. We will come back to this later. Asif underlined that Pakistan’s long-held position on Israel would not allow it to join the Abraham Accords.
“I don’t think we should join any such accord that clashes with our fundamental ideologies. How will you sit down with those people whose word cannot be trusted even for a single day?” the defence minister said in an interview with Samaa TV, taking a swipe at Israel.
Asif also referred to Pakistan’s passport policy to reject any suggestion of a change in its outlook towards Israel.
“On our passports, we are the only country whose passports don’t even include Israel’s name… We have a very clear stance that this is not acceptable to us,” he said.
