ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will “always” come to Saudi Arabia’s assistance if the Kingdom’s sovereignty or territorial integrity is threatened, Islamabad’s ambassador to the Kingdom said on Sunday, Arab News reported.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif travelled to the Kingdom on March 12, along with country’s Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Field Marshal Asim Munir, to discuss regional situation with Saudi leadership, following US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Tehran’s counterattacks on Gulf countries.
The meeting came months after Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement (SMDA), under which two countries pledged aggression against one would be treated as attack on both.
PM’s office said prime minister and CDF held a “restricted meeting” with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah and assured the Kingdom of Pakistan’s “full solidarity and support”, amid Tehran’s attacks on US bases as well as commercial and oil infrastructure in Gulf countries.
“Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif undertook a visit to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The visit was driven by the, you know, conflict which has broken out in this region”, Islamabad’s ambassador to the Kingdom Ahmad Farooq told Arab News.
“The leadership of Pakistan has conveyed its full solidarity to leadership of the Kingdom, in terms of our support to them”.
Farooq said defence ties between Islamabad and Riyadh go back several decades and have long been a key pillar of their relationship.
“Pakistan always has this principled position in its foreign policy it will always come to assistance of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia when its sovereignty and territorial integrity is at threat”, he noted. “We have done it in the past”.
“Obviously, Iran is the main focus of conflict, but at the same time, you know, fallout has been also on the other regional countries, which includes the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia”, the envoy said.
“And that was the main purpose to focus on what can be done to, you know, end this conflict”.
The ambassador said defence pact, signed in September last year, has essentially formalised longstanding defence understanding between two countries.
“This agreement offers space to both countries to discuss, you know, options that can be taken, actions that can be taken for, you know, strengthening their mutual defence”, he added.
Asked if Pakistan could deploy troops or military equipment to Saudi Arabia, the ambassador said: “These are basically technical discussions that are, you know, take [place] between military authorities of both countries”, he said.
To a question if Islamabad had conveyed any message to Iran under the current circumstances, Farooq emphasised Islamabad favours diplomatic efforts to prevent conflict from escalating further.
“The leadership of Pakistan has engaged right from beginning of this conflict. The conflict started on 28th of February and Pakistan Prime Minister on the same day had a telephone call with the Crown Prince (Mohammed bin Salman). In recent days, he has also had a conversation with president of Iran”, the ambassador said.
“Our message here to all countries in this region is that we have to prevent an escalation of this conflict. And that can only happen when we respect sovereignty and territorial integrity of each other. We abide by international law and Charter of the United Nations. And the only way out for any issues that have caused the conflict is to engage in dialogue”.
