Imran Khan: We cannot recognize ‘Israel’

The situation in Palestine is “exactly the same situation” in Kashmir, Pakistan’s prime minister said Wednesday, stressing that Pakistan cannot recognize ‘Israel.’
In an interview with a Turkish television station, Imran Khan said there are two reasons why Pakistan cannot recognize ‘Israel.’
“The situation in Kashmir is exactly the same situation in Palestine. If we recognize Israel’s takeover of Palestine territories, then we also have to recognize what India has done in Kashmir, so we completely lose moral standing,” he said.
On the second reason, which he prefaced with “much more importantly,” he recalled Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan’s policy regarding the issue, who said that unless injustice done to the people of Palestine is removed and unless the people of Palestine are given their homeland, Pakistan cannot recognize ‘Israel.’
In the same context, Maulana Tahir Ashrafi, special representative of Pakistan’s prime minister on religious harmony, said in an exclusive interview with Anadolu Agency that Pakistan is a strong nation and nobody can order it to establish ties with ‘Israel.’
“Again, I repeat, no country has asked us to accept Israel. Pakistan is not a small country. We are a nuclear power, we have a strong army and we are a strong nation. Nobody can order us to establish ties with Israel,” he said.
Pakistan has a long history of supporting the Palestinian cause for a free and independent state.