Recent developments in the ongoing spat between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan show no signs of reconciliation. On Monday, Pakistan’s Army Chief General, Javed Bajwa, visited Saudi Arabia to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. However, reports suggest that the Saudi leader declined to meet with Bajwa. Consequently, Bajwa was forced to discuss the souring relations with the Crown Prince’s younger brother and Deputy Defence Minister Sheikh Khalid Bin Salman, and chief of general staff Major General Fayyad Al Ruwaili.
Nevertheless, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is trying hard to downplay the differences between the two countries. In an interview with the Duniya News, he said, “The rumours that our relations with Saudi Arabia have soured are totally false.” He added, “On the Kashmir issue, there is a view that OIC should have stepped forward.” However, he said, “Saudi has its own foreign policy. We shouldn’t think that because we want something Saudi will do just that.”
Relations between Riyadh and Islamabad took a turn for the worse when the Kingdom denied the South Asian country’s appeal to convene an OIC Council of Foreign Ministers meet to discuss the Kashmir issue. For Saudi Arabia, which is India’s fourth-largest partner in trade, taking a strong stand against India is against its economic interests. Apart from trading in crude oil, the two countries also collaborate on several other fronts, such as defence and security, which may explain the Kingdom’s silence on the Kashmir issue. Consequently, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, said, “If you cannot convene it, then I’ll be compelled to ask Prime Minister Imran Khan to call a meeting of the Islamic countries that are ready to stand with us on the issue of Kashmir and support the oppressed Kashmiris.”
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Qureshi’s statement was the spark that ignited tensions between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. In November 2018, during Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s diplomatic visit to Islamabad, the two countries signed a $6.2 billion package that included $3 billion in fiscal loans and $3.2 billion in oil credit facilities. In retaliation to Qureshi’s statement, Saudi Arabia halted its oil supply and ended a financial loan deal with Pakistan. These developments also raise doubts about the future of 2019 MoUs signed between the two Islamic countries, which included Saudi investments in Pakistan valued at around $20 billion, including the setting up of an oil refinery in the port city of Gwadar, which is also a strategic area at the crossroads of the Gulf of Oman and a crucial element of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.
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