Pakistan has assured Malaysia that it has not changed its support for a Palestinian state despite a landmark meeting between Pakistan and Israel last week, a foreign ministry statement said Saturday.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz briefed his Malaysian counterpart Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on the meeting between foreign ministers of the two countries in a telephone call Friday, the statement said.
Aziz said that Pakistan has not changed its foreign policy and that the talks with Israel were aimed at resolving the lingering issue of a Palestine state.
“There has been no change in Pakistan’s principled position on the Palestinian issue which called for the establishment of a Palestinian State with Al-Quds as its capital,” the statement quoted Aziz as saying.
Pakistan and Israel do not have diplomatic relations but their foreign ministers - Khursheed Kasuri of Pakistan and Silvan Shalom of Israel - met in Turkey on Sept. 1, the first public contact between them.
Israeli officials have said the meeting was arranged at the request of Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, a key U.S. ally in the Indian subcontinent, in response to Israel’s Gaza pullout.
Malaysia is the current chair of Organization of Islamic Countries and the two ministers also discussed ways to strengthen the organization, the statement said.
“Both the leaders agreed that restructuring of OIC was essential to promote the causes of the Islamic world,” it said.