ISLAMABAD: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa will visit Saudi Arabia this weekend, Director-General (DG) ISPR confirmed, seeking to calm diplomatic strains over Kashmir.
“Yes he is traveling,” Director-General (DG) ISPR Iftikhar Babar told an international news agency. He further said that the visit was pre-planned and primarily military affairs oriented.
The Kingdom is irked by criticism from Pakistan that Saudi Arabia has been lukewarm on the Kashmir territorial dispute, motivating General Bajwa’s planned fence-building visit on Sunday.
Relevant sources have informed that the army chief will discuss developments in Afghanistan and brief his hosts about the IOK situation. Sources further informed that COAS Bajwa may also meet the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdul Aziz.
The reference was to remarks made by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi expressing frustration with the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) for not taking a strong stance on Kashmir.
FM Qureshi said, “If you cannot convene it, then I’ll be compelled to ask Prime Minister Imran Khan to call a meeting of the Islamic countries that are ready to stand with us on the issue of Kashmir and support the oppressed Kashmiris.”
Later, the PTI-led federal government was criticised by opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif, who termed FM Qureshi’s statement highly unfortunate, irresponsible. In a statement, Shehbaz Sharif said, “The cavalier attitude by this government is undermining Pakistan’s core relations with friendly countries.”
However, FM Qureshi had denied there was any ill will between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Qureshi while speaking on a private news channel said, “Riyadh is still Islamabad’s ally and that it acknowledges the feelings and aspirations of Pakistanis.”
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