ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Tuesday his country would welcome third party facilitation by Saudi Arabia for resumption of talks with India.
“Saudi Arabia is Pakistan’s friend and maintains strong business relations with India,” he told a news conference in Islamabad. “India is a big importer of Saudi oil and if Saudi Arabia or any other country wants to play the role of a facilitator, we will welcome the initiative.”
“Pakistan is ready for third party facilitation,” he continued. “It is India that has always shied away from it.”
Asked about Prime Minister Imran Khan’s recent visit to the kingdom, Qureshi said it had defeated the elements who were trying to drive a wedge between the two countries.
He added there was now an institutional mechanism to steer the bilateral relations between the two countries and strengthen them further.
“The Saudi-Pakistan Supreme Coordination Council will have its secretariat in the respective foreign ministries,” he said. “It will mainly deal with security, economic and cultural information. Each pillar will have a top official who will chalk out strategies to further enhance bilateral cooperation in these fields.”
Qureshi informed that the kingdom planned to hire a new workforce of about 10 million people in the next few years under Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 program, adding that the Saudi authorities intended to allocate a big chunk of that to Pakistan.
“In addition to blue-collar jobs, we have to prepare our workers for white-collar employment opportunities by building their professional capacity,” he said.
Other than that, the foreign minister said that Saudi would help Pakistan meet its energy requirements by giving $500 million for hydropower projects.
He noted that Saudi Arabia occupied a special place in the Muslim world, adding that Pakistan welcomed its initiative to ease regional tensions by talking to Iran.
“Talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran were confirmed by both Saudi and Iranian authorities,” he informed. “This was also our desire for a long time.”
Qureshi said a Saudi delegation of senior officials was going to visit Pakistan after Eid Al-Fitr to build upon the discussion that had taken place in Jeddah.
He added this would also be followed by the visit of the Saudi foreign minister to Islamabad.
Qureshi strongly condemned Israeli violence against Palestinians and urged the international community to stop its atrocities.
He said an emergency ministerial meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation was also being proposed to help the Muslim world raise its voice for the rights of Palestinians more effectively.
