A senior Israeli tourism official shook hands and chatted with a top Pakistani tourism adviser at a London tourism fair last week, despite the fact that the two nations do not have formal diplomatic relations.
The warm chance encounter between Israeli Tourism Ministry Director General Michael Izhakov and Pakistan’s Advisor and National Coordinator to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Tourism Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan took place at the entrance to the Pakistani booth at the World Travel Markets fair in London.
Pakistan has been mentioned as one of the countries that could potentially take part in the International Stabilization Force envisioned by President Donald Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan.
The South Asian Muslim country bans its citizens from visiting Israel.
Earlier this year, a delegation of Pakistani journalists and educators made a rare visit to Israel, defying the travel ban.
