- Pakistani leader reaches Jeddah, meets Saudi monarch at Royal Palace
Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Monday met King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia at the Royal Palace in Jeddah, according to an official handout issued by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Prime Minister Nawaz, accompanied by Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs Senator Ishaq Dar, Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa and senior officials, arrived in the kingdom for a consultation with the Saudi leadership over the Gulf crisis.
Before his departure, Prime Minister Nawaz chaired a consultative session at the Prime Minister’s House to mull Pakistan’s response to the crisis. The conference was attended by Adviser Sartaj, Pakistan’s Ambassador to UN Maleeha Lodhi, as well as envoys to UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait, who were called back especially for the event.
The ambassadors briefed the prime minister on the ground reality, while officials of the Foreign Office also weighed in their expertise. The prime minister said that Pakistan enjoys brotherly relations with all the countries in the region and will do all it can to amicably resolve the crisis.
During a media talk on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kazakhstan, Nawaz had stressed that Pakistan enjoys good relations with Saudi Arabia, Iran and Qatar, and would try its best to resolve the differences between the Arab countries.
The Pakistani leader, who enjoys equally good relations with the Saudi and Qatari royal families, tried his level best to address the emergent situation among the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, according to the state-run media reports.
On Thursday, the National Assembly expressed its deep concern over the Gulf diplomatic rift, but the government stops short of taking a side. A resolution, passed by the parliament, called upon all the countries to show restraint and resolve all differences through dialogue.
Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria also said that Pakistan believes in unity among Muslim countries and has made consistent and serious efforts for its promotion. He refused to comment on whether the country had taken any steps to mediate the crisis or was also considering severing ties with Qatar.
Of all Muslim nations, “Pakistan is probably in the most difficult position,” said James Dorsey, a specialist on Pakistan’s relations with Gulf countries. Saudi Arabia is home to more than 1.9 million Pakistanis, while Qatar, a much smaller country, by comparison, hosts only 115,000 Pakistani citizens, according to data.
Those expatriate Pakistanis have a significant effect on their country’s economy, with foreign remittances playing an important role in bolstering Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves. Analysts believe that any attempts to expel Pakistani workers or block remittances could have a major effect on Pakistan’s economy.
Last week, Saudi Arabia, along with Egypt, Bahrain and UAE, cut off all ties with Qatar on its alleged support of extremism and terrorism, as well as ties with Iran. The diplomatic and business boycott was later adopted by Yemen, one of the Libyan governments, Maldives and Mauritius. Kuwait is attempting to play the role of a mediator and hopes to diplomatically resolve the crisis.
Qatar has denied the claims made by Saudi Arabia and the other states. A six-member Qatari delegation had reportedly visited Islamabad last week to relay a message from the Qatari emir, asking Pakistan to play a positive role in resolving the crisis. The Foreign Office had denied knowledge of any such visit.
