PAKISTAN-Saudi Arabia relations are exclusive, cordial and strategic. The spiritual affection the people of Pakistan have for the holy places and with the people of the holy land reinforces the bilateral relationship between the two countries.
These are the strong bonds that whenever a high-level visit takes place between the two countries, it gets much attention and new lexemes are used to illustrate the nature of this unique friendship which has always stood the test of time.
Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman is expected to visit Pakistan later this month and before that Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will also undertake a visit to the Kingdom in order to prepare and finalize agenda of the visit.
Saudi Arabia has always remained at the forefront in extending financial support to Pakistan in difficult situations.
At a time when Pakistan is faced with a multitude of problems compounded by recent devastating floods, it is being anticipated that the Saudi Crown Prince will announce another financial package for Pakistan which will help the country deal with the dwindling foreign exchange reserves.
The generosity shown by the KSA is something which the people of Pakistan will never forget but time has come to take this relationship to the next level of strong economic partnership which should be a win-win for both the sides.
Investment from the Saudi side will indeed also woo others in the Middle Easter region to come with their investment in the country.
Saudi Arabia was to set up an oil refinery in Gwadar with an investment of $10 billion.
However, the project could not take off due to a variety of reasons including former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s certain policy moves that angered the Saudi leadership.
But now Saudi Arabia is willing to revive the project as a result of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s most recent fruitful visit to the Kingdom.
We expect that necessary homework will be done to make the visit of the Crown Prince truly historic in terms of economic relationship.
Apart from the energy sector which indeed is very important for us, possibilities of cooperation in other areas also need to be explored to take this bilateral relationship to new heights.
