Pakistan has decided "to engage with Israel" diplomatically following the latter's pullout from the Gaza Strip, Pakistani Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri said at a press conference Thursday, after meeting publicly with his Israeli peer for the first time. "I think there was a very major breakthrough today in the relations between us and Pakistan," Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom told Israel Radio after Thursday's meeting in Istanbul.
According to news agencies, he said during the press conference that he hoped to open new channels of dialogue with the Islamic world and that Thursday's talks would lead to full diplomatic ties with Pakistan.
The meeting with Pakistan came at the initiative of Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf. It is inclined to be followed by another confidence-building steps, an Israeli official said.
