Pakistan plans to send a delegation to Israel following historic talks on Thursday between their foreign ministers, but it still does not recognise the Jewish state, President Pervez Musharraf [Images] said.

Speaking to reporters in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta, Musharraf said the talks in Istanbul, Turkey, between Kurshid Kasuri and his Israeli counterpart Silvan Shalom were "the first formal contact between our two countries".

"But this in no way means that we are recognising Israel. We will not recognise Israel until it resolves the Palestinian issue. This is absolutely not to recognise Israel," Musharraf said. "We should change our policies in accordance with the international environment and be a farsighted nation.''

• Pak, Israel foreign ministers meet

He added that Pakistan would send a delegation to al-Quds in Jerusalem, "where it will be welcomed by Palestinians and Israelis", but gave no further details.

The Shalom-Kasuri meeting was held at the Four Seasons Hotel, a former Ottoman prison not far from Turkey's Topkapi Palace, the seat of the Ottoman Sultans for almost 400 years. Security was extremely tight with Turkish and Israeli security officials searching bags.

Turkey, a Muslim country which has good ties with Israel, was chosen as a neutral venue at the suggestion of Musharraf. This meeting has come ahead of President Pervez Musharraf's planned address to the American Jewish Congress on September 17 in New York.

Islamic hardliners have, however, condemned the talks in Turkey. They accused the government of succumbing to pressure from the United States and engaging Israel without telling the parliament.

"The Pakistani nation, openly and collectively, condemns this unfortunate meeting, which the foreign miniter has held with a representative of the Jewish occupier of Palestinian land," said Qazi Hussain Ahmed, chief of Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal, an opposition coalition of six Islamic parties.

"We will oppose, with full force, any step that is taken toward recognising Israel," he said. The secular Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz opposition party also raised objections, saying the meeting was "premature and will hardly yield positive results".

However, Kasuri also made it clear that the 'engagement' did not mean recognition of the Jewish state by Islamabad. Emerging from the meeting, he said his country had decided to 'engage' with Israel after the Jewish state's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

"Pakistan attaches great importance to Israel ending its occupation of Gaza. We see this as the beginning of the process of (ending) Israeli occupation and establishing a Palestinian state living side by side with israel in peace and security," he told reporters.

He, however, emphasised that 'the meeting does not mean recognition...that stage will come following progress toward the solution of the Palestinian problem.'

Shalom described the meeting as 'historic' and hoped that it would finally lead to full diplomatic relations between the two countries. "I am sure that this meeting will be followed by more meetings in the future...we hope that finally it will lead to full diplomatic relations with Pakistan as we would like it with all Muslim and Arab countries," he said.

He said Israel, which has diplomatic relations with only four Muslim countries - Turkey, Jordan, Egypt and Mauritania- would like to have 'full diplomatic relationship with Pakistan as with all Muslim and Arab nations'.

In Quetta, Musharraf added that he had spoken to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and to Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah about the Kasuri-Shalom meeting.

"Both appreciated our move and gave us the go-ahead signal," he told reporters. He said it was part of his government's policy to move forward in the international arena."We cannot live in isolation. Forward-looking countries perceive changes in advance. They formulate their policies according to the changing world scenario."

Lauding Israel's pullout from the Gaza Strip as a 'positive step', Musharraf said today's talks were "the first formal contact between our two countries, adding Islamabad's move 'should not be misconstrued'.

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