The Foreign Office (FO) on Friday said it had “no information” about the prime minister’s coordinator on tourism, Sardar Yasir Ilyas, interacting with an Israeli ministry official in London.
The spokesperson was asked about the incident after a video of the interaction began circulating on social media. It was filmed during the World Travel Market event in London, which took place from November 4 to 6, 2025.
In the clip, Ilyas could be seen shaking hands with and conversing with an individual later identified as the Director General of Israel’s Ministry of Tourism, Michael Izhar-Kov.
A translation of Israeli journalist Rai Kais’ X post in Hebrew said: “As you may recall, Pakistan was recently mentioned as one of the countries that may join the international force in Gaza.”
However, London-based journalist Murtaza Ali Shah claimed in a post on X that “a group of individuals from Israel visited the Pakistan Pavilion unannounced and met the Pakistani delegation without introducing themselves.”
Asked during a weekly press briefing about the interaction, the FO spokesperson, Tahir Hussain Andrabi, said: “I have no information on this meeting. The gentleman you referred to is a public figure. I would request you to ask him about the meeting. I have no information on this.”
In a subsequent question on the matter, he said: “I have not seen the report or any information on a meeting of the adviser to the prime minister or any public figure with an Israeli representative. I can assure you that if such a meeting or interaction took place, it was, certainly, without authorisation by the government.”
The FO spokesperson was later asked about previous reports of alleged visits by Pakistani delegations, to which he said: “I can tell you with a certain assurance that they were not authorised or under information of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. If these individuals have violated any passport regulations pertaining to travel to a country disallowed on Pakistan passport, our authorities ought to look into it. I have no information, and I can tell you that these visits or these interactions with Israel are not authorised.”
Reacting to the video, former Jamaat-i-Islami senator Mushtaq Ahmed Khan wrote on X, “Shaking hands with the killers of Palestinians is a betrayal of Al-Aqsa, Gaza, and the Palestinians. The handshake, meeting, and conversation during the international exhibition in London between Sardar Yasir Ilyas, Advisor to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Tourism, and Michael Izhar-Kov, Director General of Israel’s Ministry of Tourism.”
He added: “The visit of the Israeli director-general of tourism to the Pakistani pavilion — this is shameful, it is rubbing salt into the wounds of Pakistanis.
I condemn this in the strongest terms; the nation will not forgive the traitors of the Palestinian people.”
Renowned writer Fatima Bhutto chimed in: “Disgusting treason. Shaking hands dripping with the blood of Palestinians.”
Meanwhile, PTI leader and ex-human rights minister Shireen Mazari questioned: “It is not when it happened but how it happened!”
‘No decision on participation in Int’l Stabilisation Force’
The FO spokesperson was also asked about Pakistan’s participation in the International Stabilisation Force (ISF).
A cornerstone of the US-brokered Gaza Peace Agreement is the establishment of the ISF, composed mainly of troops from Muslim-majority countries. Last month, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had said that a decision on sending Pakistani troops for the Gaza peace force was still being finalised and was “in process”.
Today, the spokesperson said that “no decision has been taken as yet on Pakistan’s participation.”
“The exact role or mandate of the International Stabilisation Force itself is under discussion at the UN Security Council. I do not think a decision has been taken by the Security Council yet. So, this is an evolving process,” Andrabi clarified.
He continued: “We are engaged with it in a sense that Pakistan is a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, and is undertaking these negotiations as a Security Council member. So, we await the Security Council’s decision.
And as indicated earlier, Pakistan’s participation in the stabilisation force will be decision taken at the highest level, including through participation of the Parliament.“
Last month, Pakistan, in a joint statement with 14 other nations, condemned Tel Aviv’s attempt to impose “Israeli sovereignty” over the occupied West Bank, after the Israeli parliament passed bills on annexing the West Bank, according to FO.
A few days later, the information ministry had also denied claims of the country removing the clause from its passports that makes it invalid for travel to Israel.
Pakistan continues to maintain that it does not recognise Israel and steadfastly supports the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, including the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
American Dollar Exchange Rate