Islamabad: Pakistan’s national assembly speaker has called for improved interaction between the parliamentarians of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to further enhance high-level contacts.
Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser stressed for greater parliamentary exchanges between the two friendly countries in a meeting with Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan Nawaf bin Saeed Al-Malki on Thursday.
Frequent exchanges of parliamentary delegation will strengthen “bond of friendship” shared by the two countries, he said. “Pakistan greatly values its relations with Saudi Arabia” which has “open heartedly extended support for the development of Pakistan”, he added.
A delegation of Pakistani parliamentarians headed by Asad Qaiser visited the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) in 2019 to enhance bilateral cooperation between the two countries in parliamentary affairs. The delegation also called on King Salman and held meetings with Saudi Shura council members.
Trade ties
Besides political exchanges, Pakistan is also looking to improve trade ties with the Kingdom. Pakistani Consul General in Jeddah Khalid Majeed recently launched a campaign to enhance Pakistani exports by establishing close business relations between exporters of Pakistan and importers of Saudi Arabia. During a virtual meeting, organized by Pakistani consulate Jeddah, the consul general specifically urged Pakistani textile exporters to explore Saudi market
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy strong political, security and economic ties for decades. The two countries have always maintained close defense ties and the cooperation further improved after Pakistan’s former military chief Gen Raheel Sharif became the head of a 41-nation Saudi-formed Islamic Military Alliance to fight terrorism.
In August this year, Pakistan’s army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa’s visited Riyadh to discuss and improve “bilateral relations, military cooperation, and common vision for preserving regional security.” During his visit, Gen Bajwa held talks with senior Saudi government officials, including Deputy Defence Minister Sheikh Khalid Bin Salman bin Abdulaziz and Maj Gen Fayyad Al Ruwaili, the kingdom’s chief of general staff.
