“There is no change in the policy,” Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said on Sunday in response to queries from reporters.

Pakistan’s Commerce Ministry denounced rumors of bilateral trade as “sheer propaganda.”

“Neither do we have any trade relations with Israel nor do we intend to develop any,” the ministry said in a statement.

Benkhald converted to Islam from Judaism in 2017. While his Pakistani passport is valid for travel to all countries except Israel, he is the first Pakistani to have officially performed a pilgrimage to the Jewish state with permission from Islamabad.

According to Pakistani authorities, he sent food samples to three businesspeople in Israel via the United Arab Emirates, where they had met at food exhibitions.

The shipment was not supported by the Pakistan government or any other official channel or bank system.

Pakistan has a small kosher industry exporting food to various destinations.