Saudi Arabia is a 'key ally,' no differences with Pakistan — PM Khan

This handout photo released by the Saudi Royal Palace shows King Salman bin Abdulaziz (C) of Saudi Arabia welcoming Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan (L) at the opening session of a summit of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in the Saudi holy city of Mecca in the early hours of June 1, 2019. (AFP)

• OIC countries entitled to their own foreign policy and Pakistan its own point of view, prime minister says in TV interview
• Reiterates Pakistan’s ‘very clear’ stance on Israel, will never recognize Israel until Palestinians get “just settlement”

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has rejected rumors of growing tensions in its ties with Saudi Arabia and said the Arab nation was a “key ally” with whom Pakistan had “no differences.”
The PM’s remarks in a television interview come on the heels of a visit by the Pakistani army chief to Riyadh this week. 
Earlier this month, foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi sparked controversy with statements over the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) being lukewarm on Pakistan’s territorial dispute with archrival India over Kashmir.
“Saudi Arabia is our key ally. Saudi Arabia has helped us in every difficult moment and even this time, they [helped us] in the most difficult possible time,” he said, referring to 2018 when Saudi Arabia offered Pakistan $3 billion in foreign currency support and a further loan worth up to $3 billion in deferred payments for oil imports to help stave off a current account crisis.
“These rumors you hear that our ties have gone bad with the Saudis, they are absolutely false,” the prime minister said in an interview to a local news channel. “Our ties with the Saudis are great, we are constantly in touch with the Saudis.” 
Commenting on the foreign minister’s comments that the Organization of Islamic Cooperation was dragging its feet on the Kashmir issue, the PM said: 
“They have their own foreign policy, they are their own countries, they have to make their own decisions. Pakistan has its own point of view.”
He added: “Saudis have their own foreign policy. We can’t think that because we want something, Saudis should also do it.”
Pakistan has long demanded that the OIC convene a high-level foreign minister’s meeting to highlight alleged rights violations in the part of Kashmir controlled by India. But the forum has only held low-level meetings so far.
Commenting on a recent normalization deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, the PM said Pakistan’s stance was “very clear.”
“We will never recognize Israel until Palestinians don’t get their rights,” he said, “they don’t get a just settlement.”