THE Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has once again proved that it has deep commitment to wellbeing of Pakistan and its people, which would surely help further boost image and reputation of the Kingdom in Pakistan. During his short but crucial visit, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud is reported to have extended Riyadh’s steadfast support to Pakistan’s core national interests including the Organization of Islamic cooperation’s (OIC) greater role in the Kashmir dispute.
The visit was timely and relevant in view of widely held perception that Pakistan skipped the Kuala Lumpur summit at the instance of KSA, missing an important forum and opportunity to highlight and further the country’s point of view on issues of its core interest. Pakistan decided to stay away from the moot despite the fact that both the host Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir bin Mohammad and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke in a forthright manner on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir especially the prevailing precarious situation in Occupied Kashmir. The grave human rights situation in Occupied Kashmir where occupation forces are subjecting Kashmiris to unprecedented brutalities, change in the status of the disputed territory and plans to change its demography by emulating what Israel is doing in occupied territories in the shape of rapid construction of illegal and illegitimate Jewish settlements are matters of serious concern for Pakistan and the country badly needs diplomatic support to counter these damaging moves by Modi government. It has, however, been observed that the kind of support that Pakistan needed is not forthcoming from some of our closest friends. No doubt, OIC Contact Group on Kashmir of which Saudi Arabia too is a member, has always adopted a bold stance on Kashmir but the situation in Occupied Kashmir is so grave and discrimination against Indian Muslims is so crude that these require punitive actions against New Delhi. The visit must have afforded an opportunity to the Saudi FM to get detailed input from Pakistani leadership on the latest situation in Occupied Kashmir, plight of Kashmiris and threats to the interests of Muslim minority in India. It is also satisfying that the Saudi Minister reaffirmed the resolve to deepen bilateral collaboration in all fields including trade, investment, energy and tourism. This resolve needs to be translated into real actions and this can be done by offering vitally important projects for Saudi investment including major dams and import of more manpower from Pakistan in the wake of increased developmental activities initiated under the vision of Prince Mohammad bin Salman.
