Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf willing to form diplomatic ties with Israel

Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf willing to form diplomatic ties with Israel

The former Pakistan President and Chief of Army Staff Pervez Musharraf have angered the masses in the Muslim-majority country by stating that Pakistan should consider establishing ties with the Israel.

Musharraf contended that Israel is a reality and not going anywhere. Therefore, it is in the best interest of Pakistan to recognise the Jewish state and get on its good side. With the amount of influence that the latter has in America and the good relations
that it enjoys with India, Pakistan is bound to benefit from forming diplomatic ties with Israel.

Pakistan, along with a number of other Muslim-majority countries, has refused to recognise Israel as a state on the grounds that the Jewish state has been formed on Palestinian lands.

In 2005, the Musharraf-led government was responsible for first public talks with Israel. It was followed by a strong public backlash in Pakistan, heavily criticising the President for stepping out of the boundaries of Islam.

Following the angered reaction of the nation, Musharraf conceded that he just wanted to test the waters in respect to Israel. It turned out that the public was still not ready to loosen their stance towards the Jewish state.

Talking in favour of ties with Israel is being considered a political suicide for Musharraf, who is planning to contest in the 2013 elections. His political party, All Pakistan Muslim League (APML), is yet to gain decent support in the country, while most
of his former allies and supporters have shifted their loyalty to Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the same political party which recently added the influential Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) minister Makhdoom Javed Hashmi and Pakistan People’s Party’s
(PPP) Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

Musharraf’s latest statement regarding Israel comes at a time when he is due to address a rally via video in Pakistan’s most populated city, Karachi. His sympathetic attitude towards the Jewish state has never received any support from the nation in the
past and is not expected to go down well with the public in the future.

One thing is for certain though – Musharraf’s stance towards Israel would have definitely won him many friends in the American government, along with the huge and extremely influential Israeli lobby. America has been known to play a vital role in Pakistani
politics and their support can play a crucial role in the outcome of the polls that are scheduled to take place in the beginning months of 2013.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=8449

Posted by Muhammad Qasim Hassan on Jan 7 2012. Filed under Pakistan, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry