Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy a decades-old and warm bilateral relationship that has survived many jolts. Bilateral relations between them strained since April 2015 when Pakistan refused to send its military troops to Yemen and decided to remain neutral in the proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Pakistan’s neutral approach towards Yemen and Iran faced an element of frostiness in the bilateral relationship with Saudi Arabia. Resultantly, Saudi Arabia stopped supporting Pakistan over the Illegally Indian Occupied Kashmir (IIOK) particularly after the Indian government act of 5th August 2019 and Saudi Arabia did not show much interest in raising the issue at the OIC platform.
Read more: Pak-Saudi delegations bilateral relations: Saudi to invest $500m
An effort at reconciliation after strained ties?
Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Saudi Arabia in May this year was for the re-setting of bilateral relationship which has strained since 2015. Pakistan’s desire to repair the decades-old bilateral relationship with Saudi Arabia which is home to the two most sacred places of the Muslim world, also reflects how much importance Pakistan gives to its bilateral relationship with Saudi Arabia.
The recent visit of the Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud to Pakistan on Tuesday 27th July indicates that the Pakistan-Saudi bilateral relations are back on track. This is what one can find from the statement given by the Saudi Foreign Minister at a joint news conference after the talks as he stated that “We have a very, very aligned view as towards the priority to regional stability, regional security, dialogue and resolving issues through dialogue and we found that security is key.” Al Saud referred to the conflicts in Afghanistan, Kashmir, the Palestinian territory, and Yamen as the places where that alignment exists.
Read more: Exclusive interview with Saudi Foreign Minister H.H Faisal bin Saud
According to media reports of this visit and a joint statement by the two foreign ministers, the main focus of this visit was to decide the details of the functioning of the Saudi-Pakistan Supreme Coordination Council (SP-SCC) which was announced on the occasion of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Saudi Arabia in last May. According to an agreement concluded in the wake of the Prime Minister’s visit to Saudi Arabia, the two sides decided to set up a ‘Supreme Coordination Council’ co-chaired by the Saudi Crown Prince and the Pakistani Prime Minister to establish closer ties between the two states.
Towards a better future
This body is meant to enhance economic and other linkages to further expand ties between the two countries and develop a comprehensive strategy to institutionalize the bilateral relationship. The current visit of the Saudi Foreign Minister is, what he describes it “to follow-up the important visit of the Prime Minister to Saudi Arabia in May this year.” The Saudi FM has expressed the hope that the Supreme Coordination Council would take the bilateral relationship to a new level, institutionalize it and explore all options it can offer. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are brotherly Muslim countries having a decades-old relationship.
There are important opportunities to develop each other’s capabilities through cooperation in selected areas of trade and investment. It is a good sign that both countries are institutionalizing their relationship through a bilateral platform i.e. SP-SCC. And, in this regard, both sides have decided that there would be a focal person at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia as well to oversee the progress on the bilateral front.
It looks that much focus of this visit was on the economic side and enhancing it beyond the traditional areas of investment rather than expanding it in the fields of technology and environment.
Read more: Did Saudi Arabia and UAE ask Pakistan to recognise Israel?
However, the visit seems to be an attempt to put the overall relationship on the normal track and to have a discussion over the rapidly changing situation in Afghanistan. The Saudi approach towards the Yemen civil war, once a key irritant behind the strained relationship between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, is changing as Saudi Arabia now trying to exit from the Yemen war in a face-saving way. Likewise, the Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman commonly known as MBS softened his approach towards Iran when he announced in April this year that the Kingdom sought good relations with Tehran.
Neutral and mutual ties
Therefore, Pakistan must remain neutral within the Muslim bloc and try to minimize the differences and build bridges between states affiliated with different geopolitical camps. It is also significant that Saudi Arabia through UAE has also supported backchannel between Pakistan and India.
Currently, the leadership of both countries is on the path to a mutual destination through mutual trade and cooperation in various fields. In addition to it, bilateral relations need to be strengthened through educational scholarships and the exchange of cultural delegations between the two countries as Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has rightly emphasized. Saudi Arabia is home to more than twenty lakh Pakistanis who are playing an important role in the development and prosperity of both countries.
Read more: Pakistan’s “train and advise” mission reverses its power relations with Saudi Arabia
According to Pakistani government data, there are currently about 400,000 Pakistanis, normally resident and working in Saudi Arabia, who are stranded in Pakistan and unable to go back. They are facing challenges like travel restrictions and issues of vaccination. Saudi Arabia needs to ease down these COVID-19 related restrictions and help facilitate students and Pakistani families so that they can re-start their contribution towards the progress and development of both countries.
The author holds a PhD in International Relations from the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and teaches at the Department of International Relations, Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan He can be reached at tahirmian1@bzu.edu.pk. The views expressed in the article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Global Village Space.