Rejects speculation over Pakistan joining the Abraham Accords during media talk in Washington
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar addresses the media at the Pakistan Embassy in Washington DC on Friday. SCREENGRAB
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday categorically rejected any notion 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 a lot of rumours going on related to the Abraham Accord, let me clear that Pakistan’s stance is very clear and consistent on that. Until Palestine is recognised with the pre-1967 model with Quds Al Sharif as its capital, there will be no flexibility,” Dar said while addressing the media at the Pakistan 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 mediatory efforts” for peace and stability in the region.
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 normalise relations with Israel.
In a lengthy social media post, Trump listed countries whose leaders he said he had spoken to regarding efforts to end the war with Iran.
“After all the work done by the United States to try and pull this very complex puzzle together, it should be mandatory that all of these countries, at a minimum, simultaneously sign onto the Abraham Accords,” Trump wrote.
“Those 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 accords, which were brokered during his first term in office.
The Abraham Accords are US-sponsored agreements that normalised relations between Israel and several Muslim-majority countries during Trump’s first term.
The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed the accords in 2020, becoming the first Arab states in a quarter century to establish ties with Israel. Morocco, Kazakhstan and Sudan later followed suit.
Trump had earlier expressed optimism that Saudi Arabia would also join the accords following a ceasefire in Gaza last year, although Riyadh has yet to indicate willingness to move forward. Egypt and Jordan already have diplomatic relations with Israel.
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Pakistan has long maintained 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 additional countries not previously “contemplated” were preparing to join the accords, Pakistan again ruled out the possibility of recognising Israel.
“We are not ready to recognise Israel until the two-state solution to the Palestine conflict is accepted,” Dar had said at the time. “There is no change in our stated policy on the Palestine issue.”
He had also said that signing the Abraham Accords would amount to abandoning Pakistan’s longstanding demand for a Palestinian state with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, based on pre-1967 borders.
“Let it be clear to everyone that our seven-decades-long policy remains unchanged,” he had said.
