Maham Khan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan hosted two high-level Saudi delegations on Wednesday in a series of meetings that underscored the deepening partnership between Islamabad and Riyadh, marking a renewed phase of strategic, economic, and parliamentary cooperation between the two long-standing allies.&nbsp;The first visit, led by Prince Mansour bin Muhammad bin Saad Al Saud, chairman of the Saudi-Pakistan Joint Business Council (JBC), focused on strengthening economic linkages and investment collaboration across key sectors. The second delegation, headed by Dr Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Ibrahim Al-Sheikh, chairman of the Shura Council of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, highlighted growing institutional and parliamentary engagement between the two nations.&nbsp;Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif hosted a banquet in honor of the Saudi business delegation led by Prince Mansour, commending the Kingdom&rsquo;s enduring support for Pakistan and reaffirming Islamabad&rsquo;s commitment to deepening bilateral economic relations, his office said in a statement.&nbsp;PM Sharif said the visit represented &ldquo;a formalization of our long-standing brotherly ties,&rdquo; emphasizing that Saudi Arabia &ldquo;has always stood by Pakistan through thick and thin&rdquo; and remains a trusted partner in every era.&nbsp;Reflecting on his recent visit to Riyadh, the prime minister praised Saudi Arabia&rsquo;s transformation under the leadership of Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, noting that Pakistan &ldquo;is eager to learn, collaborate, and grow together&rdquo; with the Kingdom.&nbsp;&ldquo;We have gathered with our Saudi brothers to strengthen business ties, promote trade, and explore joint ventures,&rdquo; he added, underscoring the mutual vision for shared prosperity.&nbsp;The Saudi&ndash;Pakistan Joint Business Council meeting, organized in collaboration with the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) and the Ministry of Commerce, brought together leading Saudi investors and Pakistani business leaders, the SIFC said.&nbsp;Discussions centered on trade, energy, minerals, agriculture, tourism, and infrastructure &mdash; sectors identified as priorities under Pakistan&rsquo;s investment-led growth strategy and Saudi Vision 2030.&nbsp;During the meeting, government officials briefed the Saudi side on Pakistan&rsquo;s evolving investment climate and recent reforms aimed at ensuring transparency and predictability for investors, the statement added.&nbsp;The SIFC also hosted a dedicated session detailing sector-specific opportunities, particularly in the energy, mining, real estate, and technology sectors.&nbsp;Prince Mansour praised Pakistan&rsquo;s investment facilitation framework and reaffirmed Riyadh&rsquo;s commitment to long-term economic engagement, the SIFC said.&nbsp;The statement quoted Prince Mansour as saying that Pakistan is &ldquo;an important regional partner with strong potential in agriculture, mining, energy, and technology,&rdquo; adding that the Saudi&ndash;Pakistan Joint Business Council remains one of the most successful bilateral business forums globally.&nbsp;The Saudi delegation is also scheduled to visit Karachi and Lahore to meet provincial leaders and major business houses, exploring opportunities for joint ventures and public&ndash;private partnerships.&nbsp;Parallel to the business-focused engagements, Dr Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Ibrahim Al-Sheikh, chairman of the Saudi Shura Council, met Prime Minister Sharif in Islamabad to discuss avenues for closer parliamentary and institutional cooperation, the PMO said.&nbsp;The meeting underscored the shared commitment to strengthening legislative collaboration and policy dialogue between the two nations&rsquo; representative bodies.&nbsp;Officials described both visits as complementary pillars of a broader effort to transform Pakistan&ndash;Saudi relations into a multidimensional partnership encompassing economic, institutional, and strategic cooperation. <img src="https://paktv-assets-7d41fab8.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/54731148-710b-48dd-b31b-c563731b577a.jpeg" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"> &nbsp;Separately, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who also received Prince Mansour and his delegation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the foreign office said, expressed satisfaction at the &ldquo;growing momentum in bilateral economic relations&rdquo; and reaffirmed Islamabad&rsquo;s readiness to facilitate Saudi investments.&nbsp;This week&rsquo;s engagements mark a significant milestone in the evolving partnership between Riyadh and Islamabad, aligning Pakistan&rsquo;s development agenda with Saudi Arabia&#39;s transformative vision for economic diversification.&nbsp;As the two delegations concluded their engagements in Islamabad, both sides reaffirmed their shared resolve to translate historic fraternal ties into a future-oriented economic partnership.

Economy

Foreign Affairs

Islamabad hosted two high-level Saudi delegations to strengthen economic, strategic, and parliamentary ties. Meetings focused on trade, investment, and institutional cooperation, aligning Pakistan’s development agenda with Saudi Vision 2030 for mutual growth and regional prosperity.

Saudi delegations bolster strategic, economic, and parliamentary ties with Pakistan

PARIS: The new mutual defense pact signed by Pakistan and Saudi Arabia this month surprised many and came just days after the Gulf region was rattled by Israeli strikes on a Hamas compound in Qatar.&nbsp;The agreement comes at an especially volatile time in the wake of both Iranian and Israeli strikes on Doha, uncertainty over the future of Tehran&#39;s nuclear program, and clashes between India and Pakistan in May.&nbsp;&quot;Even those accustomed to dramatic developments in the Middle East and South Asia were caught off guard by the announcement,&quot; said Joshua White from the Brookings Institution.&nbsp;While the agreement follows decades of close military ties between the countries, questions over its exact parameters, particularly any potential nuclear dimensions, remain unanswered.&nbsp;Historical ties&quot;The pact clearly formalizes and deepens decades of Saudi-Pakistani security and defense cooperation, building on a landmark 1982 protocol agreement,&quot; said White, which saw a significant deployment of Pakistani troops to Saudi Arabia.&nbsp;&quot;There are a large number of Saudi military personnel who have been trained by Pakistanis, and there are Pakistani officers seconded within the Saudi Ministry of Defense,&quot; added Camille Lons, a Gulf expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations.&nbsp;According to Lons, the pact likely resulted from lengthy negotiations.&nbsp;&quot;We must be cautious in linking it directly to recent developments in the region, although the broader analysis that sees it as a response to growing Israeli power in the region and Saudi doubts about American security guarantees remains valid,&quot; she told AFP.&nbsp;For Syed Ali Zia Jaffery from the Center for Security, Strategy and Policy Research at the University of Lahore, &quot;Pakistan will find this agreement as a way to show its growing importance in the security architecture of the Middle East,&quot; while Saudi Arabia, which has long relied on US muscle, &quot; is looking to diversify its sources of security&quot;.&nbsp;What about the nukes?Pakistan is believed to have around 170 nuclear warheads, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, but how they factor into the deal remains ambiguous.&nbsp;There has been no official statement from either side about the establishment of a nuclear umbrella.&nbsp;To date, only two such agreements exist: the US nuclear umbrella covering its European allies and Russia protecting Belarus.&nbsp;Several Saudi and Pakistani voices have hinted at this possibility.&nbsp;Saudi Arabia included &quot;conventional and non-conventional means in the treaty text,&quot; a retired Saudi general told AFP, speaking anonymously due to the sensitivity of the topic.&nbsp;&quot;We made it very clear and written that it includes the Pakistani nuclear weapons,&quot; he added.&nbsp;Saudi analyst Ali Shihabi, known to be close to the royal court, also told AFP that &quot;nuclear is an integral part of this agreement&quot;.&nbsp;Regional experts, however, have asserted that the situation is far from clear.&nbsp;&quot;Pakistan does not have any nuclear umbrella and there is just no evidence to suggest that Pakistan plans on providing one to Saudi Arabia,&quot; said Jaffery.&nbsp;&ldquo;Pakistan&#39;s nuclear doctrine, policy, posture, strategy, and capabilities are only India-centric.&quot;&nbsp;Others suggested a lack of clarity on the issue may be intentional.&nbsp;&quot;It&#39;s impossible to know the details of any potential arrangement in this area,&quot; added Bruno Tertrais from the Foundation for Strategic Research in Paris, &quot;because that&#39;s part of deterrence: what&#39;s often referred to as strategic ambiguity.&quot;&nbsp;And India?Saudi Arabia maintains good relations with Delhi, Pakistan&#39;s main rival.&nbsp;India&#39;s rapidly developing economy relies heavily on petroleum imports, with Saudi Arabia ranked as its third-largest supplier according to the Indian foreign ministry.&nbsp;&quot;Would Saudi Arabia get involved in an escalation between Pakistan and India? I don&#39;t think so. That would go completely against the kind of diplomacy Saudi Arabia is trying to pursue &mdash; which, like India, is one of multi-alignment,&quot; explained Lons.&nbsp;The signing of the pact comes just months after Pakistan and India fought an intense four-day conflict &mdash; one of the worst crises between the arch rivals in decades.&nbsp;So how would Saudi Arabia react to renewed hostilities?&nbsp;&quot;Riyadh&#39;s instinct would be to stay passive, preserving hard-won trade equities with India while honoring its security obligations to Pakistan,&quot; said White.&nbsp;&quot;That balance will now be harder to sustain.&quot;

The agreement follows decades of close military ties between the countries.

Articles tagged with "Pakistan Saudi Arabia relations"

Saudi delegations bolster strategic, economic, and parliamentary ties with Pakistan

Defense pact between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia stuns observers