PM Shehbaz expresses gratitude to brotherly countries for reposing confidence in Pakistan

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday expressed gratitude to brotherly countries of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkiye for reposing confidence in Pakistan’s sincere efforts for regional peace and stability.

PM Shehbaz said this in a statement on his X account hours after meeting the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Egypt.

The premier said during his meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, he conveyed his respectful regards to Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and warm greetings to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

“I reaffirmed Pakistan’s unwavering solidarity with the Kingdom and appreciated Saudi Arabia’s remarkable restraint in these challenging times,” he said.

Recognising the Kingdom’s leadership role in the Muslim Ummah, Shehbaz said, he underscored the importance of unity among Islamic countries.

“We agreed to remain in close coordination in our shared pursuit of peace and stability in the region,” he said.

In a separate tweet, PM Shehbaz expressed pleasure to receive Turkiye FM Hakan Fidan, and Egyptian FM Dr Badr Abdelatty as well.

During the meeting with the two dignitaries, he said, he stressed upon the need for collective efforts to urgently bring an end to hostilities that were causing heavy loss of life, economy and property not only in Iran, but across several brotherly Muslim countries.

“While appreciating Turkiye and Egypt’s valuable contributions, I reaffirmed Pakistan’s strong commitment and resolve to play a positive role in bringing both Iran and the US to the negotiating table,” the PM stated, expressing gratefulness for their confidence in Pakistan’s sincere efforts for regional peace and stability.

The development comes on the heels of Saudi Arabian FM Prince Faisal, Turkish FM Fidan and Egyptian FM Abdelatty’s visit to Islamabad to attend 2nd consultative quadrilateral meeting held here on Sunday.

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The Foreign Ministers advocated dialogue and diplomacy as the only viable pathway to prevent conflicts and to promote regional peace and harmony. We called for upholding principles of the UN Charter, including respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states.

Deputy Prime Minister /Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar announced the decisions at the Conclusion of 2nd meeting of four foreign ministers.

“The Foreign Ministers held a very detailed and in-depth discussion on the current regional situation. We also discussed the possible ways to bring an early and permanent end to the war in the region,” he further said.

The Foreign Ministers have also discussed ways and means to further strengthen mutual cooperation among the four brotherly countries. In this regard, they decided to constitute a committee of four senior officials from the respective Ministries of Foreign Affairs to work out the modalities through mutual understanding and consensus.

The Foreign ministers expressed concerns that the on-going conflict is extremely unfortunate for its devastating impact on lives and livelihood across the wider region.

DPM/FM Dar highlighted, “We agreed that this war is not in favour of anyone and would only lead to death and destruction. The unity of Muslim Ummah in these challenging times is of utmost importance.

Pakistani DOM/FM briefed the visiting Foreign Ministers on the prospects of potential US-Iran talks in Islamabad. The visiting Foreign Ministers expressed their full support to the initiative.