23 Feb 2018, Speaking on the occasion, Defence Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan said Iran

should have better understanding of Pakistan’s historical ties with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf
states.

“Our interests in stability in GCC countries stem from the fact that around 1.9 million Pakistanis
live in Saudi Arabia alone, who are contributing a great deal to our foreign exchange reserves,”
he said.

Mr Khan said the government’s Middle East policy was “undergirded by its longstanding close
relations with Saudi Arabia and by the focus on limiting the domestic fallout of sectarian
tensions stemming from the Saudi Arabia-Iran rivalry”. He said that Pakistan had an “ideological
affinity and deep military, economic, and leadership” ties with the Saudi kingdom, whereas it
was building “economic cooperation and counterterrorism links” with Iran. “An opening” has
been achieved with Iran, he added.

Relations with Saudi Arabia, the defence minister said, were being updated and
expanded to newer areas, including economic and industrial cooperation.

He said that Pakistan had for decades deputed its troops to Saudi Arabia under
bilateral agreements on training and advisory missions. He avoided talking in detail
about the latest announcement on deployment of troops in the kingdom and did not
take any questions.

The SVI president, Dr Zafar Iqbal Cheema, said the recent decision to send troops to
Saudi Arabia highlighted the challenges Pakistan was facing in walking the tightrope
in relations with the two countries.

He believed that an announcement with regard to deployment of troops should have

been made by the political government instead of the military’s media wing. He also
recalled the parliamentary resolution about maintaining neutrality in Middle Eastern
conflicts.

February 16, 2019 (DAWN news)

Pakistan to initiate economic diplomacy between Saudi Arabia,

Iran and Qatar
Responding to a question, the minister said Saudi Arabia did not have any security
concerns particularly in Balochistan where it was planning to make investments worth
billions of dollars in oil refinery, minerals and renewable energy sources. He also
brushed aside notions that Iran had any concerns about Saudi investments in Gwadar.

In fact, Pakistan had taken a number of initiatives to bring peace and stability in the
region and was ready to play the role of a mediator between Saudi Arabia and Iran, he
said adding Pakistan played a key role for negotiations between the US and Afghan
Taliban and next round of talks would be held in Islamabad on Feb 18 soon after visit
of Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman.

This is the first step towards bringing peace in the region, he said. In the next step,
Pakistan wanted to play a role of mediator between Iran and Saudi Arabia and
between Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The minister said the security situation in Pakistan
had improved a lot and different countries were interested to make multi-billion dollar
investments.

“Saudi Arabia is going to invest over $10 billion in setting up oil refinery and
petrochemical complex”, he said but hastened to add that exact size of the refinery
investment would be determined on the basis the feasibility study currently in the
works.

The minister said 10 memoranda of understanding (MoUs) will be signed during the
visit of the crown prince and his ministry, of which two will be signed by his ministry
in the field of oil and minerals. KP and Balochistan have given their consent for Saudi
investment in mineral sector.

Responding to a question regarding Pakistan’s request for review in LNG prices with
Qatar, the minister said the government wanted to move ahead to improve bilateral
relations with Qatar. He said the National Accountability Bureau was investigating the
issue and “let it decide”. He, however, said Qatar had agreed to increase volume of
LNG supply and negotiations were currently ongoing regarding LNG supply on credit
facility for which he would be visiting Qatar later this month.

He said Saudi Arabia had also expressed interest to invest in LNG sector in Pakistan
and wanted to invest in energy storages in Pakistan. In response to another question,
Mr Khan said the government was conducting a study about requirement of gas for
different sectors in Pakistan on the basis of which it would decide signing further
LNG deals on government-to-government basis to import LNG.

The minister said the upcoming visit of the crown prince was a success of the
economic diplomacy between two brotherly countries. “Previous governments were
keen to build personal relations with Saudi Arabia and China whereas Prime Minister
Imran Khan has focused on developing relations based on mutual respect and national
interests under his vision about a new Pakistan”.

He said the Saudi side had indicated the capacity of proposed oil refinery to be
250,000-300,000 bpd (11-13 million tonnes per annum) and the cost of the refinery
will be determined after the feasibility study to be initiated following the signing of
the MoU.
Besides the Saudis were showing interest in Pakistan’s mines, minerals, fertilisers,
phosphate and LNG storage capacity. He said the refining project would save $1.2bn
per annum in the form of import substitution.