Saudi FM meets Qureshi; discusses bilateral, regional issues of mutual interest

Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan on Thursday met his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi and the two leaders discussed bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest.

After meeting Qureshi, Faisal called on Prime Minister Imran Khan, according to the state-run Radio Pakistan.

The two foreign ministers discussed bilateral relations, matters of mutual interest and regional situation, it said.

Both the foreign ministers agreed to continue their bilateral consultations on important regional matters, including Kashmir, it added.

Speaking on the occasion, Qureshi said that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoyed deep brotherly relations and the two countries were committed to further expand their relations in diverse fields.

He thanked the Saudi foreign minister and the Saudi leadership for backing Pakistan's stance on the Kashmir issue.

The day-long visit of the Saudi minister came after criticism of the alleged pressure applied by the Gulf Kingdom on Pakistan to skip a summit meeting of Muslim countries held last week in Malaysia.

Pakistan faced huge domestic and international embarrassment after Prime Minister Khan refused to attend the summit at the eleventh hour.

The Summit from December 19-21 in Kuala Lumpur was seen by Saudis as an attempt to create a new bloc in the Muslim world that could become an alternative to the dysfunctional Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) led by the Gulf Kingdom.

Citing a diplomatic source, Dawn reported that the purpose of the trip of the Saudi minister was to thank Prime Minister Khan for not attending the Kuala Lumpur Summit.

"The purpose of the visit is to thank PM Khan for his decision of not attending KL summit, and express solidarity with Islamabad after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's allegations that Saudi pressure forced Pakistan to skip the event," the paper quoted the source as saying.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates extended financial support to the government of Prime Minister Khan to deal with the balance of payment crisis last year.