Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a “restricted” meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah on Thursday, expressing Pakistan’s full support for the kingdom in the prevailing “challenging” times.
In a statement, the Prime Minister’s Office said Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and Chief of Defense Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir accompanied the premier. It said Sharif had conveyed his respectful regards and best wishes to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and expressed profound appreciation for the kingdom’s longstanding support to Pakistan.
“The prime minister expressed Pakistan’s full solidarity and support for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in these challenging times,” read the statement, adding both leaders had exchanged views on recent regional developments and agreed to work together for regional peace and stability.
Sharif assured the Saudi crown prince that Pakistan “would always stand firmly with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and strive for their mutual desire for peace in the region,” it added.
The brief trip, with the prime minister and his delegation returning to Pakistan later in the evening, is part of Pakistan’s attempts at easing regional tensions triggered by joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, martyring its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The most recent meeting followed a meeting between the CDF and the Saudi defense minister last week in which the two discussed Iranian attacks on the Gulf kingdom within the framework of the joint strategic defense agreement between Islamabad and Riyadh. Under the accord, any attack on either nation is considered an act of aggression against both.
As part of its retaliation against U.S. and Israel, Iran has targeted U.S. bases and infrastructure across the Gulf, including in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. It has also closed the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting global oil supplies.