ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan held a meeting on Wednesday with the foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia’s state minister for foreign affairs to “discuss [the] issue of Kashmir”, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s official Twitter account said.
Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the UAE Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan had arrived in Islamabad earlier today and were received by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi at the Noor Khan Airbase.
The ministers are also expected to hold a meeting with Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa.
During a press conference held after the ministers’ meeting with the premier, Qureshi said: “There is no doubt that Saudi Arabia and UAE are standing with us.
“We are hopeful that [both countries] will not disappoint us. The ministers of both countries have listened to our stance on the situation.”
Qureshi told reporters that a meeting of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir will be held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting, which will be held later this month.
“Pakistan wants to see OIC [playing a] prominent role,” Qureshi said.
The Saudi and UAE officials are visiting Pakistan as a result of direct telephone calls by Prime Minister Imran to the crown princes of the two countries in the past few days.
In a conversation with reporters yesterday, Qureshi said the prime minister had “good interaction” with the crown princes of Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
“We contacted the two foreign ministers and they are coming,” the foreign minister added and further said that both Saudi Arabia and the UAE were important countries. He said that he would present before them the viewpoint of Pakistan and of the people of Kashmir on the latest Indian move of repealing Article 370 and the situation in the held valley due to continued curfew.
The visits come at a time when tensions between Pakistan and India are high following New Delhi’s decision to strip occupied Kashmir of its special status. Pakistan has been making diplomatic efforts to direct the world’s attention towards the Kashmir issue by reaching out to international bodies and allies.