Assuaging Saudi concerns

Prime Minister Imran Khan’s major successes have come on the diplomatic front. After strengthening relations with Saudi Arabia, UAE and Iran, the prime minister will be embarking on his maiden official visit to the Gulf state of Bahrain.

PM Imran Khan will attend the National Day of Bahrain’s celebrations as a guest of honour. Furthermore, he will be conferred Bahrain’s highest civil award. The Indian prime minister was also given this award earlier this year leading to stiff criticism.

Pakistan and Bahrain enjoy strong cordial ties void of controversy. There are over 110,000 Pakistani expats in Bahrain, which is significantly lower than other Gulf countries. The visit should enable the two sides to explore ways to expand bilateral and investment sides.

Earlier, PM Imran Khan has returned from a short one-day official visit to Saudi Arabia. This was his fourth visit in the last year. He met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman to reaffirm ties and take relations to a new level.

The prime focus of the trip was to reinforce Pakistan’s perspective that all disputes in the Middle East should be resolved through political and diplomatic means. Pakistan reiterated that it shall facilitate all efforts to defuse tensions to preserve peace for the benefit of the region.

Whether this was a regular exchange or had a special purpose is not known. A week ago Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had dashed to Saudi Arabia as well. The Foreign Office was tight-lipped on the meeting later stating it was part of the policy of promoting close ties with Pakistan’s friends.

It is being revealed that Saudi Arabia is not pleased over Imran Khan’s decision to attend the upcoming Kuala Lumpur Summit being held later this month-the brainchild of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad. There are concerns that the summit seeks to be an alternate to the Jeddah-based OIC. 

The prime minister’s visit was probably to assuage Saudi Arabia’s concerns over the KL Summit. Qureshi has now said that there is no misunderstanding between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Imran Khan is pushing diplomacy to avert any crisis in the Middle East and while doubling efforts to resolve issues between Muslim countries.