ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is waiting to receive answers from the United States before making a decision on contributing troops to the International Stabilization Force (ISF) in Gaza, said Foreign Office Spokesperson Tahir Andrabi on Thursday.
Last month, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said Pakistan was willing to contribute to the international peacekeeping force in Gaza, though it would not deploy troops to disarm or de-weaponize Hamas.
According to international media outlets, Washington views Pakistan as a potentially significant contributor to the force given its battle-hardened military.
However, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio conceded last month that countries contributing troops want to know what the ISF’s specific mandate would be and how it would be funded, noting that Pakistan was among the countries who had shown interest.
“As regard to the International Stabilization Force [in Gaza], as I said, in a number of my replies, that, and in fact, what the deputy prime minister also said here, that that it depends on the mandate, and in regards to the balance of that force,” Andrabi said.
