Saudi Arabia to call OIC meeting on Kashmir in Islamabad, says envoy

The Saudi Shoura Council delegation meets with members of the Saudi-Pakistani Parliamentary Friendship Committee in Islamabad on Dec. 5, 2019. (AN photo)

• The Kingdom will sign an MoU with Pakistan to strengthen relations between their parliaments in Riyadh later this month
• Pakistanis apprise the visiting Saudis about investment opportunities in their country

ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia will help Pakistan arrange the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s meeting on Kashmir in Islamabad, said the Kingdom’s envoy to the country, Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki, while giving an exclusive interview to Arab News on Thursday.
“The case of Kashmir is very important and the chairman of Saudi Shoura Council, Dr. Abdullah Bin Mohammed Al-Sheikh, has called for an OIC conference on Kashmir in Pakistan,” Al-Malki said.
“The delegation of the Saudi Shoura Council met with the Saudi-Pakistani Parliamentary Friendship Committee before interacting with the speaker of Pakistan’s National Assembly and the chairman of the Senate,” the Saudi envoy continued while informing that the delegation had discussed economic relations between the two brotherly countries.
Al-Malki said the speaker of Pakistan’s National Assembly would travel to Saudi Arabia on a reciprocal visit by the end of the month.
One of the members of the Saudi delegation, Osama Abdul Aziz Al Rabiah, said the two sides had discussed ways and means to strengthen relations between the Saudi Shoura Council and the National Assembly of Pakistan.
“We have agreed to sign an MoU [Memorandum of Understanding] to strengthen relations between the two countries’ parliaments during the upcoming visit of National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser to Saudi Arabia later this month,” he told Arab News while reiterating that Saudi Arabia would not only attend but also support Pakistan with the OIC meeting on Kashmir in Islamabad.
“We have also been informed about many business opportunities in Pakistan which we will share with Saudi companies,” he added while praising expat Pakistanis in his country by saying: “Saudis give special respect to the Pakistani community in the Kingdom.”
The Pakistani convener of the parliamentary friendship group, Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, said both sides had discussed several areas of cooperation, but special focus remained on investment opportunities in Pakistan in the fields of tourism, infrastructure development, agriculture and other businesses.
“We had informative meetings with the delegation. We have shared with its members details of improved security situation in Pakistan and how it has increased business opportunities in the country,” Khan told Arab News, adding: “We have discussed the Kashmir issue in detail and they gave us a very strong response by saying that Saudi Arabia was ready to help Pakistan on the issue, whether it was in the international arena or anywhere else. This was very encouraging for us.”