ISLAMABAD – Pakistan and Saudi Arabia pledged to further strengthen theirmultifaceted relationship in diverse areas as Saudi Foreign Minister PrinceFaisal Bin Farhan Al Saud arrived in South Asian country on a day-longvisit today.
Speaking at a joint press conference in Islamabad, FM Qureshi said bothcountries have fraternal and historic ties. “At the bilateral front, we arevery comfortable with the way the things are moving and we can only improveon what we have,” Qureshi mentioned.
He further added that “The vision 2023 is about transformation, and this isone area that had not been tapped into in the past, and we can contributeto. Qureshi also informed that he had a discussion on climate change, andhow to combat the issue collectively with international cooperation, withhis Saudi counterpart.
He later thanked the Saudi government for its ‘unwavering support’ on FATF.”Their support has been phenomenal. Saudi Arabia had also been a part ofthe Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Contact Group on Jammu andKashmir and has been supportive and has shown clarity in supportingPakistan on the disputed territory, he opined.
Regarding the situation in Afghanistan, the foreign minister said that hehad a good discussion on the matter with the Saudi minister. “We discussedwhat to expect, what the challenges are, and what opportunities lay aheadof us. Our approach is the same and our objectives are shared,” he said.
Commenting on investment opportunities in Pakistan, he said there wereimmense opportunities for Saudi Arabia for investment in SEZs under theCPEC project. Our skilled, semi-skilled workforce and professionals couldalso make significant contributions to the Saudi Vision 2030.
Meanwhile, the Saudi dignitary said that the kingdom is looking to expandthe dimensions of its relationship with Pakistan through the Saudi-PakistanSupreme Coordination Council (SP-SCC).
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“Pakistan and Saudi Arabia had a relationship that is founded inbrotherhood and goes back many decades and both sides have supported eachother in many areas and will continue to do so”, the Saudi FM said.
“We have made good progress on what the structure should be, what theorganization should look like and what should be the work plan”, hementioned adding that “there would be focal persons in both sides tooversee the progress made on this front.”
He also expressed hope that the Saudi-Pakistan Supreme Coordination Council(SP-SCC) will turn out to be an important milestone in taking therelationship between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to new levels andinstitutionalizing it.
The Saudi dignitary also revealed that around 1.7 million Pakistanis inSaudi Arabia have received vaccines against the novel Covid-19. Saudiauthorities valued the contribution of the Pakistani community to SaudiArabia’s economy, he opined.
Prince added that while two countries had worked in multiple areas in thepast as well, he believed that the SP-SCC would be a ‘more effective tool’to enhance bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
