ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s prime minister on Thursday met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and discussed regional tensions and Islamabad’s role in mediating between the United States and Iran, as diplomatic efforts intensify following inconclusive talks last week.
Pakistan has emerged as the key mediator between the US and Iran to end the war in the Middle East while also shoring up Saudi Arabia’s defenses after the Kingdom came under hundreds of Iranian missile and drone attacks.
It mediated talks on April 11 in Islamabad that marked the most senior direct engagement between US and Iranian officials in more than a decade but ended without a breakthrough. The two sides remain divided on key issues including Iran’s nuclear program, sanctions relief and the future of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global energy route that Tehran has blocked since Israel and the US went to war with it in late February.
Since the talks ended, efforts have continued to revive dialogue, with Pakistan facilitating contact between Washington and Tehran and exchanging messages amid a fragile ceasefire reached earlier this month.
“The Crown Prince appreciated the constructive role of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir in the peace process,” Sharif’s Office said in a statement on Thursday after he met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah. Munir, the country’s all-powerful army chief, is currently on a separate visit to Tehran in continuation of the Islamabad talks.
Saudi Arabia’s support to Pakistan’s mediation efforts underscores its broader interest in regional stability at a time when tensions have threatened energy supplies and shipping routes, while Pakistan has sought to leverage its diplomatic role to raise its global profile.
During the meeting with the crown prince which lasted nearly two hours, Sharif expressed solidarity with Saudi Arabia following recent missile and drone attacks linked to the Iran conflict that have targeted energy infrastructure and caused casualties in the Kingdom, according to the statement.
The two leaders also discussed Pakistan’s economic situation and ongoing Saudi support for the country’s financial stability, the statement said.
Riyadh this week agreed to provide an additional $3 billion deposit and extend an existing $5 billion facility to support Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves and ease debt repayment pressures.
The move underlines a deepening relationship between Riyadh and Islamabad, cemented last year by a mutual defense pact treating aggression against either as an attack on both.
Saudi Arabia has repeatedly stepped in to support Pakistan during periods of economic stress. In 2018, Riyadh unveiled a $6 billion package that included a $3 billion deposit at Pakistan’s central bank and $3 billion in oil supplies on deferred payment. There have since also been subsequent rollovers of central bank deposits to stabilize reserves.
Last year, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia also agreed to launch a Strategic Comprehensive Economic Agreement framework aimed at boosting trade, investment and cooperation across key sectors including energy, mining, IT, agriculture and infrastructure.
