PM Sharif’s visit to Saudi Arabia: Deepening strategic cooperation
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The very first visit of Shehbaz Sharif as Prime Minister concluded this weekend, keeping with the long-standing tradition of Pakistani leaders visiting Saudi Arabia as their first destination abroad, performing Umrah and paying their respects to the Saudi leadership.
Saudi Arabia is the heartland of the Islamic world and the Kingdom is the spiritual pivot for almost two billion Muslims. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman is, as were his predecessors, exceptionally well disposed towards Pakistan. And so are the 220 million Pakistanis who hold Saudi Arabia in the highest regard.
Pakistan draws immense strength from its fraternal and special relations with Saudi Arabia. Over the past seven decades, Saudi Arabia has supported Pakistan in multifarious fields. It has contributed towards Pakistan’s stability, security and development. It is home to more than two million Pakistanis, who are contributing to the progress, prosperity and economic development of the two brotherly countries.
In November 2018, the Crown Prince arranged an emergency economic relief package for Pakistan worth $6.2 billion, made up of $3 billion in loans and a $3.2 billion oil credit facility. The Crown Prince visited Islamabad in 2019 and announced $20 billion worth of investments in Pakistan including a $10 billion Aramco oil refinery and Petrochemical complex. The cooperative relations are clearly moving from geopolitics towards geoeconomics, which is in accordance with current trends in Asia and now an avowed priority of Pakistan.
From Afghanistan to Ukraine to the rise of Hindutva in India and tremendous economic uncertainties marking the global economy, like-minded countries such as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan will do well in identifying elements of rescue and salvage plans for our common region.
Salman Bashir
Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 aims to make the Kingdom a global economic hub. Pakistan can contribute to this effort by providing requisite technical, managerial and human resource support. Moreover, Pakistan is also aspiring to become an economic and trade hub linking China, Central Asia and possibly South Asia. It enjoys excellent relations with Beijing and is the largest oil exporter to China. Pakistan’s CPEC can thus link up with Saudi Arabia and serve as a bridge for greater trade, energy and economic cooperation.
PM Sharif’s visit had an economic, trade and investment agenda. Unfortunately, an economic downturn coupled with political uncertainty and instability has lately adversely affected Pakistan’s ability to coherently steer the strategic course, in particular the geopolitical minefields in the region.
A polarized polity and mounting external economic dependencies are a source of concern to all true friends of Pakistan.
Saudi Arabia will be amenable to help Pakistan in overcoming present economic difficulties but it is for the political leadership to start putting their house in order. Saudi Arabia is likely to lead an effort along with other friendly Gulf states notably the UAE, to extend urgently required economic and energy support.
China may also be required to step in at this juncture in salvaging the economic situation of Pakistan. The IMF conversations have yet to yield substantive results. It is imperative that immediate steps be taken by the Prime Minister and his coalition government to change the bitter national discourse and overcome political polarization.
It is also important to build a national consensus on charting a paradigm of economic security for the country. The greater vision of inter-regional economic and trade cooperation must not be lost sight of. Pakistan’s immense national wealth and economic potential needs to be tapped. This can only be done by restoring political stability and normalcy. Sharif is well equipped to lead such an effort and has proven he has the administrative skills to change the situation dramatically for the better. In the Saudi Crown Prince, Sharif has a friend and a genuine well-wisher of Pakistan. Their Jeddah meeting augurs a hopeful beginning of deeper strategic cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
Regional and global issues require close and constant communication and coordination between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. It is in their mutual interest to work together for protecting their people from a fraught global strategic situation that seems to be spinning out of control. From Afghanistan to Ukraine to the rise of Hindutva in India and tremendous economic uncertainties marking the global economy, like-minded countries such as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan will do well in identifying elements of rescue and salvage plans for our common region.
- Salman Bashir is a Pakistani diplomat who served as Foreign Secretary of Pakistan and as High Commissioner of Pakistan to India.
Twitter: @Salman_B_PK
