ISLAMABAD – Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister to hold important discussionswith Pakistani PM Imran Khan
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia will discuss ways to empower the Organisation ofIslamic Cooperation today (Thursday) as Saudi Foreign Minister PrinceFaisal Bin Farhan Al-Saud will arrive here for talks.
On a day-long visit, the Saudi FM will hold meeting with Foreign MinisterShah Mehmood Qureshi and call on Prime Minister Imran Khan. “This would behis maiden visit to Pakistan, during which the exchange of views wouldcover bilateral matters and regional issues of mutual interest,” said aforeign ministry statement.
It added: “Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy a deep-rooted and longstandingfraternal relationship. The two countries are committed to furtherstrengthening bilateral cooperation in all fields.
Frequent high-level visits are a key feature of the relationship and serveto further deepen and broaden mutual collaboration.”
Senior government officials told The Nation that the two sides will discussempowering the OIC further and make it more active. “The KL summit willdefinitely come under discussion. And there are bilateral matters too,”said one official.
Another official said, “Saudi Arabia also wants to assure Pakistan thatRiyadh respects it sovereignty and Islamabad is free to make its owndecisions.”
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This month, Pakistan completely boycotted the Kuala Lumpur Summit aftermuch confusion and reports that it could unofficially replace the OIC andcreate another bloc to represent the Muslims.
Pakistan said it did not participate in the Kuala Lumpur Summit as somemajor Muslim-majority countries had concerns. Foreign Minister Qureshicalled off his planned visit to attend the Kuala Lumpur Summit after PrimeMinister Imran Khan telephoned Malaysian counterpart Mahathir Muhammad andexpressed his regrets for not being able to participate in the December18-21 summit.
Qureshi was expected to represent Pakistan at the summit after PM ImranKhan’s decision to skip but his visit was also cancelled at the last minute.
The major Arab Muslim-majority states – Saudi Arabia, the United ArabEmirates and Egypt – were not made part of this group.
The participation of states considered hostile to Saudi Arabia, like Qatarand Iran, has dramatically given birth to Saudi reservations about theagenda of the summit.
