Pakistan on Monday firmly rejected the possibility of joining the Abraham Accords after US President Donald Trump called on several Muslim-majority countries, including Pakistan, to normalise ties with Israel as part of a broader regional agreement linked to ongoing negotiations with Iran.Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said Islamabad would not support any agreement that contradicted the country’s “fundamental ideologies” and reiterated Pakistan’s long-standing refusal to recognise Israel without the establishment of a Palestinian state.“Personally, I don’t think we should join any such accord that clashes with our fundamental ideologies,” Asif said during an interview with Pakistani broadcaster Samaa TV.Questioning the credibility of engagement with Israel, he added, “How will you sit down with those people whose word cannot be trusted even for a single day?”Reiterating Pakistan’s official position, the Defence Minister said: “We have a very clear stance that this is not acceptable to us.”Asif also referred to Pakistan’s passport policy regarding Israel and said, “And secondly, on our passports, we are the only country whose passports don’t even include Israel’s name.”The remarks came hours after Trump pushed for an expansion of the Abraham Accords as part of a wider diplomatic settlement tied to a possible US-Iran agreement.In a lengthy Truth Social post, Trump said negotiations with Iran were “proceeding nicely” and urged countries including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt and Jordan to join the accords.“Negotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran are proceeding nicely! It will only be a Great Deal for all or, no Deal at all,” Trump wrote, warning that failure to reach an agreement could mean “Back to the Battlefront and shooting, but bigger and stronger than ever before.”Trump said Saudi Arabia and Qatar should immediately join the accords after a deal with Iran and suggested that Tehran itself could eventually become part of the framework if negotiations succeeded.According to Trump, the Abraham Accords had delivered a “Financial, Economic, and Social BOOM” to existing signatories, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan and Kazakhstan.“The Abraham Accords have been great for them, and will be even better for everybody, and bring true Power, Strength, and Peace to the Middle East,” he wrote.Trump also claimed he had discussed the proposal with several regional leaders, including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah II.Calling the proposed arrangement potentially “the most important Deal” in the region’s history, Trump said he had instructed his representatives to begin expanding the accords to more nations.Pakistan, however, maintained that its position on Israel remained unchanged and tied any possible recognition to the creation of an independent Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.Asif, one of Pakistan’s strongest critics of Israel, has previously accused Israel of carrying out “genocide” in the region and described the country as a “curse for humanity.”
