ISLAMABAD: Ƶn Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud met with Prime Minister Imran Khan and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Islamabad on Thursday.
Prince Faisal was in Pakistan for a one-day working visit.
Ƶn Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud meets Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi at the Foreign Office in Islamabad, Dec. 26, 2019. (Photo courtesy: Foreign Office)
“Frequent high-level visits are a key feature of the (Pakistan-Saudi) relationship and serve to further deepen and broaden mutual collaboration,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that Qureshi “thanked the Saudi leadership for supporting Pakistan’s stance on Indian-occupied Kashmir.”
The ongoing lockdown in Indian-administered Kashmir was also touched on during the Saudi minister’s meeting with PM Khan, according to a statement by the Prime Minister’s Office.
The prime minister acknowledged Saudi investment in the petrochemical, mining and renewable energy sectors, and expressed his hope that it will be expanded to the tourism sector as well, according to the statement.
Ƶn Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud meets Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi at the Foreign Office in Islamabad, Dec. 26, 2019. (Photo courtesy: Foreign Office)
Prince Faisal reaffirmed the Kingdom’s willingness to “to deepen bilateral collaboration in all fields, including trade, investment, energy, and tourism.” The Saudi foreign minister also “reiterated Ƶ’s steadfast support for Pakistan’s core national issues,” the statement read, adding that “enhancement of the role” of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in the context of Kashmir was also discussed.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis, Sayed Zulfikar Bukhari, told Arab News on Wednesday that the Saudi minister’s visit was a “very positive development” and relations between the two countries were “far better than in the past.”
“It is now part of regular interaction. Our foreign minister visited Ƶ last week,” Bukhari said. “Ƶ is one of the friendliest allies of Pakistan that stood with us whenever we were in trouble.”
In February, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman began his tour of South Asia with an over $20 billion investment in Pakistan that he said represented only the start of an economic tie-up that would bring the Muslim allies even closer.
Last year, Ƶ helped keep Pakistan’s economy afloat by propping up its rapidly dwindling foreign exchange reserves with a $6 billion loan, giving Islamabad some breathing room as it negotiated a bailout with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Islamabad treated the crown prince’s trip as the biggest state visit since Chinese President Xi Jinping’s in 2015.
