Indo-Pak faceoff : Saudi envoy meets PM Khan, conveys crown prince’s ‘special message’
Islamabad: Saudi’s top diplomat met Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday and delivered a “special message” from powerful Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, amid global efforts to de-escalate Indo-Pak tensions, according to media reports.
Saudi State Minister for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir called on Prime Minister Khan at the his office where the two discussed the ongoing Indo-Pak tensions and matters of regional and bilateral interest, Geo TV reported.
Jubeir conveyed him a special message of the crown prince, it added.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, PM’s adviser on trade, secretary foreign affairs and other higher officials were present during the meeting.
Ahead of his meeting with Khan, Jubeir met Qureshi and discussed Pakistan’s recent tensions with India, regional security and bilateral relations.
The Saudi diplomat assured Qureshi of his country’s support towards solving the issues with India in a peaceful manner.
According to Pakistan Foreign Office, Jubeir will also meet Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa.
Jubeir was earlier supposed to visit Pakistan on March 1 but it was delayed due to heightened tensions between Islamabad and New Delhi.
Tensions between India and Pakistan flared up after a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed killed 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel in Kashmir’s Pulwama district on February 14.
India launched a counter-terror operation in Pakistan’s Balakot on February 26. The next day, Pakistan Air Force retaliated and downed a MiG-21 and captured its pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was handed over to India on March 1.
Countries like the US, the UK, China, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were involved in easing tensions between India and Pakistan.
While announcing the Saudi minister’s visit, Foreign Minister Qureshi Wednesday said that the Saudi envoy is coming to Pakistan with a “special message” from Crown Prince Mohammad.
Jubeir’s visit comes after the crown prince stand alone visits to Pakistan and India soon after the Pulwama terror attack.
Meanwhile, a visiting senior Chinese diplomat said that Beijing was willing to play a “constructive” role to help ease tensions between India and Pakistan, and called on the two countries to refrain from taking any action that could further escalate the situation.
China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic cooperative partners who have always shared firm mutual support in issues concerning each other’s core interests, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou said during his meetings with the Pakistani leadership here on Wednesday.
China paid close attention to the current situation between Pakistan and India, he said, adding that Beijing “appreciates the calmness and restraint on the Pakistani side and its efforts to defuse the tensions through dialogues with the Indian side”, reports Xinhua news agency.
Beijing has maintained that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected and it does not wish to see any actions that violate rules of international relations, Kong said.
China urged both sides to avoid any actions that could further escalate the situation, show good will and flexibility, and engage each other in dialogues as soon as possible so as to jointly safeguard regional peace and stability, he added.
During his visit, Kong met Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi. He also held talks with Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua.
Pakistan appreciated China for remaining “objective and fair” over the current situation and thanked Beijing for its efforts to reduce the tensions. (with PTI inputs)
KV News
