Saudi, UAE FMs to visit Pakistan amid Kashmir lockdown

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PakistanToday
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–Saudi Embassy says top diplomat will hold meetings with PM, army chief 

–Imran calls MBS, discusses lockdown in Kashmir with crown prince 

 

ISLAMABAD: The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are slated to visit Pakistan on Wednesday amid a standoff between Islamabad and New Delhi over the abrogation of the special status of occupied Kashmir and a subsequent lockdown by the Indian forces till date.

Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir will be in Islamabad for a day-long official visit, wherein he will hold meetings with Pakistan’s top civil and military leadership.

According to a statement issued by the Saudi Embassy in Islamabad, the top Saudi diplomat will call upon Prime Minister Imran Khan, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa to discuss bilateral matters and the regional situation, including the Kashmir crisis.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) discussed “latest developments in the region” in a telephonic conversation. According to the agency, the two “reviewed relations between the two countries and the latest developments in the region”.

Tuesday marked the third time in less than a month when Prime Minister Imran and Saudi crown prince MBS discussed grave rights violations in Indian held Kashmir over the telephone.

Earlier on Aug 19, the crown prince called the PM to “discuss the ongoing situation in occupied Kashmir”, SPA had reported at the time.

The visit of State Minister Al-Jubeir comes at a time when tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, India and Pakistan, are at an all-time high following the Indian decision to strip held Kashmir of its special status through a rushed presidential decree.

Saudi Arabia, which is a crucial strategic partner of Pakistan, has deep corporate ties with India which, boasting of its massive population, offers a huge consumption market.

On Aug 12, state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco bought a 20% stake in Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries Limited’s (RIL) flagship chemicals and refining business in a deal valued at $15 billion.

UAE FM TO VISIT PAKISTAN:

Separately, the foreign minister of UAE, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, will also arrive in Islamabad on Wednesday to hold meetings with the Pakistani premier and army chief among other high-level officials.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently received the UAE’s highest civilian honour during a visit to the oil-rich Gulf nation, reinforcing ties between the countries.

The induction of Modi into the Order of Zayed shows the importance the UAE places on India, the world’s third-largest consumer of crude oil. Corporate relations between India and other oil-rich Gulf states have compelled the latter to keep mum over former’s atrocities in held Kashmir.

KASHMIR LOCKDOWN:

On August 5, the government of PM Modi stripped Kashmiris of the constitutional rights they had for seven decades through a rushed presidential order. An indefinite curfew was imposed in occupied Kashmir and elected leaders were put under house arrest.

At least 500 incidents of protest have broken out in Indian-administered Kashmir since New Delhi stripped the region of its autonomy and imposed a military clampdown more than three weeks ago, a senior government official has told the AFP news agency.

The Kashmir valley is under a strict lockdown, imposed hours before India’s decision to bring Kashmir under its direct rule.

Movements are restricted in the region and phone and internet services have been cut. Police have been using pellet guns and tear gas to disperse crowds of protesters in the main city of Srinagar.

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