Spokeswoman says Saudi Arabia making important contributions to Pakistan’s economic development
Pakistan on Tuesday said that any foreign funding by individuals and organisations to private entities in Pakistan through informal channels irrespective of the source or country was being brought under tighter scrutiny in the National Action Plan (NAP) against terrorism.
“The purpose of bringing such funding under tighter scrutiny is to rule out any possibility of financing terrorists or terrorist organisations,” said Foreign Office spokeswoman Tasneem Aslam.
She was responding to a statement issued by the Saudi embassy in Islamabad on Monday which denied funding of what it called the extremist mindset through its financial support of religious seminaries in Pakistan.
“A section of the media has been propagating a false impression that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is funding the extremist mindset in Pakistan through its financial support for religious seminaries,” a press statement issued by the Saudi embassy had said.
The Saudi embassy’s statement had come weeks after Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) Riaz Hussain Pirzada accused the Saudi government of creating instability across the Muslim world by distributing money in order to promote religious extremism.
The minister had said that the time had come to stop the influx of Saudi money into Pakistan, which he claimed had a destabilising influence.
Aslam said Saudi Arabia had been making important contributions to Pakistan’s economic development.
She further said that offers of economic assistance and project-based assistance by Saudi Arabia were processed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Pakistan in consultation with relevant departments and agencies of the federal government.
