Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in Islamabad Friday categorically ruled out the possibility of starting trade with Israel, which Islamabad has not recognized since the foundation of the Jewish state.

Referring to the first-ever historic meeting between Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri and his Israeli counterpart in Istanbul early this month, Aziz told reporters at a press conference that the purpose of the meeting was only " engagement."

"At present there is no possibility of starting trade with Israel. There is no such policy," Aziz said, adding there was no harm in the engagement if the cause of Palestine was benefited.

Aziz also denied that the meeting would pave the way for formally recognizing Israel.

"We will only recognize Israel when an independent state of Palestine comes into existence. This is the stance of the Organization of Islamic Conference and Pakistan also adheres to it, " he stressed.

When answering a question if the meeting held Thursday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York between President Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was not productive, Aziz said it was not true.

He said the meeting between the two leaders was part of the dialogue between the two countries which was a continuous process.

Aziz said Pakistan wanted to resolve all the bilateral issues through dialogue and that finding solution to the Kashmir problem was government's top priority.

Pakistan and India have fought two major wars over Kashmir since their partition in 1947. In early 2004, the leaders of the two neighbors initiated the composite dialogue process to resolve all their outstanding issues including Kashmir.

Source: Xinhua