ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and his Saudi counterpart Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud jointly chaired the inaugural session of the Ministerial Committee of the Political and Security Pillar of the Saudi-Pakistan Supreme Coordination Committee (SPSCC), held in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Riyadh, on Thursday.
During the meeting, both sides held wide-ranging discussions on a host of issues related to political and security domains, said a statement of the Foreign Office issued here at the conclusion of the foreign minister’s two-day visit to Saudi Arabia on November 9-10.
Underscoring the longstanding fraternal and strategic ties between the two countries, the foreign minister expressed his resolve to further strengthen cooperation across the entire spectrum of bilateral relations to realize the aspirations of the leaderships of the two countries, achieve common objectives and push their relationship to reach greater horizons.
The two sides shared the assessment of the changing regional and global environments and reaffirmed their commitment to continue coordinating positions on all issues of common concern including, among others, the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K), Afghanistan, Yemen, and Syria.
Foreign Minister Bilawal reiterated Pakistan’s firm support for the safety and security of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He stressed the importance of continued coordination between the two countries in combating the activities of terrorist groups that aim to undermine the security and stability of the regional countries.
He also highlighted the need to further strengthen institutionalised linkages between the two countries to counter threats in the security domain; including cyber security, counterterrorism and its financing, organised crimes, drug trafficking and money laundering.
The foreign minister expressed satisfaction on the existing military and defence ties between the two brotherly countries and underscored Pakistan’s commitment to further bolster cooperation in this area.
The meeting was held under the framework of SPSCC which is chaired by the prime ministers of both countries. Senior officials from the ministries of Foreign, Defence, Interior and the Security and Intelligence Services of both countries also attended the meeting.
In a tweet, Bilawal said that he had a “comprehensive and successful” visit to Saudi Arabia. He said that he had detailed discussions on our plans to strengthen bilateral ties with Saudi Arabia during meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan.
“We co-chaired ministerial segment of political and security pillar of Pak-Saudi supreme coordination council,” he added.
Separately, the foreign minister also met Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Dr Nayef Falah M Al Hajraf. “We discussed various aspects of mutual interest; and affirmed commitment to enhance cooperation between Pakistan and the GCC,” the foreign minister stated in another tweet.
The foreign minister visited Saudi Arabia from November 9-10 co-chair the ministerial segment of the Political and Security Pillar of the SPSCC and to finalise the proposals agreed in the previous meeting of the Joint Working Group of SPSCC which was held on November 3, 2022, in Islamabad ahead of the crucial visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman on November 21.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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