Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has called for a national debate on the possibility of establishing diplomatic ties with Israel, but said formal recognition of the state of Israel was not yet on the cards.
He was speaking after lunch in Paris with the French President, Jacques Chirac, during an official visit to France.
Mr Musharraf is expected to meet the French Foreign Minister, Dominique de Villepin, to discuss terrorism, Iraq and India-Pakistan relations.
The talks follow the sentencing to death on Monday of three Islamic militants for killing 11 French submarine engineers in Pakistan last year.
From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
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