Pakistan PM moves to mend fences with Saudi monarchy
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has met with senior Saudi officials in a bid to mend damaged ties with the Arab kingdom over the ongoing crisis in Yemen.
According to the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA), a Pakistani government delegation led by Premier Sharif held a meeting with King Salman bin Abdul Aziz in the capital Riyadh on Thursday.
The high-ranking delegation also held discussions with other top Saudi officials including Crown Prince Moqren, Deputy Crown Prince and Interior Minister Mohammed bin Nayef, Defence Minister Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal.
Sharif was accompanied by Defense Minister Khawaja Asif, army chief General Raheel Sharif and top officials of the Foreign Ministry on his daylong trip.
Saudi sources have given no details of their discussions. However, a statement from the prime minster's office in Islamabad earlier said the one-day trip was to discuss the ongoing war in Yemen.
The visit takes place a week after King Salman refused to meet Pakistani delegation headed by Nawaz's younger brother Shahbaz Sharif to Saudi Arabia.
The developments also come as Pakistani lawmakers have refused to send forces to help the Saudi aggression on Yemen. The Pakistani parliament has recently passed a resolution that urges Islamabad to remain neutral vis-à-vis the conflict in Yemen, dismissing Saudi Arabia’s request to join its deadly air raids against the Arabian Peninsula state.
Meanwhile, several opposition activists and parties have blamed the government of Sharif for colluding with some royals from the Saudi and some other Arab monarchies over political issues. Sharif spent nearly seven years in political exile in Saudi Arabia and has close personal ties with royal families of the Persian Gulf countries.
Saudi Arabia started its military aggression against Yemen on March 26 - without a UN mandate - in a bid to restore power to Yemen’s fugitive former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia in its military aggression against Yemen also targeted the Houthi Ansarullah movement, which took control of the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, in September 2014.
More than 950 people have been killed in the Saudi military aggression against Yemen so far, according to Yemeni sources.
JR/KA/SS
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