No meeting is scheduled between Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly summit later this month, Foreign Office spokesman said Saturday.

The Jerusalem Post reported Friday that plans are underway to arrange a meeting between Sharon and Musharraf when the two leaders will be in New York.

The report came after the two countries' first formal foreign ministers' contact Thursday in Turkey. Pakistan has not recognized Israel since the founding of the Jewish state in 1948.

"There is no such meeting in the schedule of President Musharraf during his visit to New York," Muhammad Naeem Khan said while commenting on the report.

Naeem, however, said that President Musharraf will speak at theAmerican Jewish Congress in New York and that Pakistan will send a diplomatic delegation to Palestine which will visit Gaza besides other areas under the control of the Palestinian Authority.

Reiterating Pakistan's principled stand on recognition of Israel, Naeem said there is absolutely no decision to recognize Israel or start trade with it following the two ministers' Thursday meeting as it is only to promote the cause of Palestine and to play an active role in resolving the issue.

Source: Xinhua