HISTORICALLY, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have enjoyed deep and long-standing bonds based on their common geopolitical interests. The presence of a large number of expatriate Pakistani workers in the Kingdom has also added a new dimension to these ties.
Saudi Arabia has always stood with Pakistan to help the country weather its political and economic crises. The general perception about Pakistan-Saudi relations is that they started with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. This development may have given a new impetus to our ties but they date back to the period before the creation of Pakistan.
It was in April 1940 when the then Crown Prince Saud bin Abdul Aziz visited Karachi and was warmly welcomed by leaders of the All-India Muslim League, including Mirza Abul Hasan Ispahani, M.A. Maniar and Karim Bhai Ibrahim, that laid the foundation of the future relations between the two countries. The then crown prince was accompanied by a large delegation, including his five brothers, Prince Faisal, Prince Saad, Prince Fahd, Prince Mansoor and Prince Abdullah. There is, however, no record of the dignitaries’ meeting with Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah.
During the 1943 Bengal famine, the Saudi leadership responded positively to Quaid-e-Azam’s appeal for humanitarian assistance. King Abdul Aziz sent the first foreign aid of £10,000 to help the people in Bengal. In 1946, Jinnah sent a delegation of leaders of the Pakistan movement under M.A.H. Ispahani to the UN. While the Indian National Congress team was obstructing the Muslim League envoys’ engagements, Prince Faisal bin Abdul Aziz, who was leading the Saudi delegation, came to their rescue. Saudi Arabia invited Ispahani and his colleagues to the official reception given in the honour of all other delegates at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Prince Faisal then introduced members of the Pakistan movement to other UN delegates, where they explained their struggle for a separate homeland.
It is said that after the creation of Pakistan, Arab merchants settled in Mumbai and Calcutta migrated to Pakistan, especially to Karachi. In 1954, King Saud laid the foundation stone for a housing scheme in Karachi — the then capital of Pakistan — which was named after him as “Saudabad.”
King Faisal was equally revered by the then Pakistani government and named a key Karachi artery, Sharea Faisal, and an airbase after him. The name of Lyallpur, a city in the central Punjab, was also changed to Faisalabad to honor Prince Faisal.
It was three years after the 1965 war when Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, the then Saudi minister of defence and aviation, visited Pakistan and a bilateral defense cooperation protocol was formalized. During the 1970s, the Saudi leadership responded to then Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s request for financial assistance in order to respond to India’s nuclear ambitions.
Furthermore, over 2 million Pakistanis employed in Saudi Arabia send home remittances amounting to nearly Rs4 billion annually.
Following the nuclear tests in 1998, the Western nations imposed sanctions on Pakistan during which Saudi Arabia provided 50,000 barrels of oil per day to Pakistan for one year; amounting to about one-sixth of Pakistan’s total oil imports on deferred payment terms, a major part of which was later converted into grant.
It has never been a one-way relationship though. Pakistan has always stood by the Arab nation in times of war and peace and they have always reciprocated in kind. Pakistan can never afford to lose its time-tested strategic allies.
• The writer is the press counselor at the Consulate General of Pakistan, Jeddah.
Pak-Saudi ties: A history of goodwill
Pak-Saudi ties: A history of goodwill
Threat to Kingdom’s security is ‘red line’ that will be ‘addressed and neutralized,’ Saudi envoy says
- Abdulaziz Alwasil tells UN Security Council the situation in southern Yemen is ‘a just cause with social and historic dimensions’ that can only be resolved through dialogue
- Recent military activity in the south was unilateral, resulting in an escalation that harms the interests of Yemeni people and undermines efforts to address issues in the south, he said
NEW YORK CITY: Any attempt to threaten Saudi Arabia’s national security is a “red line” and will be met with decisive action, the Kingdom’s ambassador to the UN told the Security Council on Wednesday.
Speaking during a meeting of the council to discuss Yemen, Abdulaziz Alwasil said the situation in the south of the country is “a just cause with social and historic dimensions” that can only be resolved through dialogue.
“We stress that any attempt to threaten our national security is a red line, and we will not hesitate to take the necessary actions and steps to address it and neutralize it,” he added.
Alwasil reaffirmed Saudi Arabia’s support for Yemeni President Rashad Al-Alimi, the Presidential Leadership Council, and the Yemeni government in their efforts to achieve security, stability, development and peace while preserving national unity.
He said military activity by Southern Transitional Council forces in Hadramout and Al-Mahra on Dec. 2, 2025, was unilateral, did not have the approval of the Presidential Leadership Council, and was not carried out in coordination with the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen.
It had resulted in an unjustified escalation that harmed the interests of the Yemeni people, undermined efforts to address the issues in the south, and ran counter to the coalition’s objectives, Alwasil added.
The Kingdom, working with its coalition partners, the Presidential Leadership Council and the Yemeni government, had moved to contain the situation by dispatching a military force to coordinate arrangements with the Southern Transitional Council in Aden, he said.
The aim was to ensure the return of the southern council’s forces to their previous positions outside of Hadramout and Al-Mahra, and the handover of camps to legitimate government forces and local authorities in line with agreed procedures, Alwasil added.
He expressed regret over the military operations that took place in Hadramout and Al-Mahra, close to Saudi Arabia’s southern border, which he said posed a direct threat to the Kingdom’s national security, as well as the security of Yemen and regional stability. Such steps were extremely dangerous, he added, and contradicted the principles on which the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen had been founded.
Alwasil welcomed a prisoner and detainee exchange agreement signed in Muscat on Dec. 23, which he described as an important humanitarian measure to alleviate suffering and build confidence.
He praised Oman for hosting and sponsoring the consultations and supporting negotiations, and commended the efforts of UN’s special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, the International Committee of the Red Cross and all others that has played a part.
Regarding the political efforts to resolve the crisis, Alwasil said Saudi Arabia welcomed President Al-Alimi’s call for an inclusive conference in Riyadh to bring together all stakeholders to discuss just solutions to the situation in southern Yemen.
Preparations for the conference have begun, he added, in cooperation with the Yemeni government and southern representatives, reflecting the close ties between the two countries and their shared interests in stabilizing Yemen.
He urged all southern stakeholders to participate actively and constructively in the talks, to help find comprehensive and just solutions that meet the legitimate aspirations of the people of southern Yemen.
Alwasil called on all Yemeni forces and stakeholders to cooperate and intensify their efforts to reach a lasting political settlement that would ensure security and stability.
He described the southern issue as “a just cause with social and historic dimensions,” adding that “the only way to address it is through dialogue that leads to a comprehensive political solution” based on nationally and internationally agreed terms of reference.
