Pakistan Prime Minister and his diplomatic corps are upset over Saudi Arabia’s growing love for India, officials here said.
Pakistan Prime Minister and his diplomatic corps are upset over Saudi Arabia’s growing love for India, officials here said.
The diplomatic tremor came after Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir said his country’s relations with Pakistan did not come at the expense of the Kingdom’s ties with India.
Officials at the foreign ministry said that Mr al-Jubeir’s statement was seen as a reaction to Pakistan’s diplomacy on Saudi tension with Iran, Syria and Yemen.
“This is a bombshell for most of us. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has asked his diplomatic corps to stand up and stop Saudi Arabia from going into the hands of India,” a senior official said.
Mr Sharif, he said, believed that Saudi Arabia has every right to have good ties with India but these should not be comparable to Pakistan. “He wants the Saudi-India ties to remain within limits and has asked his men to work on this while he will also be in contact with the top leaders in Riyadh,” the official added.
Another official had said that the United States too walked away from Pakistan preferring India. “Though the cases are different yet in case Saudi Arabia also follows the US, Pakistan will be diplomatically knocked out,” he remarked.
He said serious diplomatic efforts will be made to control the Saudi-India friendship from going too far.
“The recent meetings of the PM and the Army Chief with the Saudi leadership have been positive and hopefully Adel Al-Jubeir’s statement would not be the policy of the Kingdom,” he added.
Mr al-Jubeir had expressed the hope that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first visit to Saudi Arabia early in April would see a “tremendous uplift” in bilateral relations.
“Pakistan is a historic ally and will remain so,” he said, adding Saudi Arabia and India have a strategic relationship in all fields.
He pointed out that Saudi Arabia had extensive economic relations with India. “We are the largest supplier of oil to India.”
