ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif on Monday said that relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have entered a “new era” with multi-billion-dollar investments planned in key sectors.
The statement came days after Pakistan and Saudi Arabia agreed to launch an Economic Cooperation Framework to strengthen trade and investment ties, following Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the sidelines of the Future Investment Initiative summit in Riyadh last month.
It followed the signing of a security agreement between the two countries, pledging that aggression against one would be treated as an attack on both. The move appeared to formalize longstanding military cooperation into a binding commitment aimed at bolstering joint deterrence as both sides expand their partnership.
Speaking at a seminar in Islamabad, Defense Minister Asif said the Pakistani prime minister’s recent engagements with the Saudi leadership have reinvigorated strategic cooperation between the two countries and open pathways for multi-billion-dollar investments in energy, mining and infrastructure sectors.
“With Saudi Arabia, our relations have entered a new era of mutual confidence and economic collaboration,” he said. “The renewed momentum in the Saudi-Pak Supreme Coordination Council stands as a hallmark of this strengthened partnership.”
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are set to discuss several strategic and high-impact projects, focusing on energy, industry, mining, information technology, tourism, agriculture and food security, under the economic framework, according to a Pakistani government statement issued late last month.
During their meeting in Riyadh last month, PM Sharif and the Saudi crown prince had expressed hope that the next meeting of the Saudi-Pakistan Supreme Coordination Council, the highest forum for giving strategic direction to bilateral relations, would be convened soon to advance the agenda.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have long enjoyed close ties but have sought to broaden their cooperation in recent years. Last year, the two countries signed 34 memorandums of understanding worth $2.8 billion across multiple sectors.
The two nations share longstanding ties rooted in faith, mutual respect and strategic cooperation, with Riyadh remaining a key political and economic partner of Islamabad. The Kingdom also hosts more than 2.5 million Pakistani expatriates, the largest source of remittances for Pakistan’s over $400 billion economy.
