King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud acknowledged and appreciated the honest sentiments of the people of Pakistan that they held for their Saudi brethren and the Kingdom.
Advertisement
Saudi Arabia became the main supporter of rebels fighting to topple Iran’s ally, President Bashar Assad in Syria.
Sources told that after an overnight stay in Saudi Arabia, the Pakistani delegation will land in Tehran where talks will take place with Iranian President Dr Hassan Rouhani and other senior officials.
Governor of Riyadh received the Prime Minister and members of his entourage here at the King Salman airport. Officials said that he is accompanied by army chief General Raheel Sharif, advisor on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz, national security adviser Nasir Janjua, and special assistant on foreign affairs Tariq Fatemi among others.
Pakistan had consistently advocated the policy of promoting brotherhood among member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the statement said.
Tensions between the Sunni Muslim kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Shia Muslim Iran have escalated since Saudi authorities executed Shia cleric Nimr Nimr on Jan 2, triggering outrage among Shia Muslims.
Stock markets across the Middle East plummeted yesterday as the lifting of economic sanctions against Iran threatened to unleash a fresh wave of cheap oil.
“The oil ministry, by ordering companies to boost production and oil terminals to be ready, kicked off today the plan to increase Iran’s crude exports by 500,000 barrels”, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported yesterday, citing Amir Hossein Zamaninia, deputy oil minister.
Such concerns scuppered previous arrangements for trips, after one was planned past year. He’s also seeking to protect Chinese influence that accumulated in Iran during the country’s long isolation, with Xi becoming the first major world leader to visit since the USA and European Union lifted sanctions Saturday and cleared the way for its reemergence in the global economy.
Diplomats have said it remained unclear how that coalition will work in practice.
Mainland diplomatic observers said Beijing did not want to be seen as taking sides in the dispute, and would call for restraint and dialogue to resolve tensions.
The two nations are also going to sign a number of agreements and memorandums in a variety of areas, ranging from industrial capacity cooperation, investment, oil and gas to cultural exchanges, information sharing and Customs, he said.
Advertisement
The two grants would come from the Saudi Development Fund, according to the document that was dated January 7, the same day Somalia cut ties with Tehran.
