Saudi Crown Prince MBS expected to arrive within days to seal investment deals

• Dar terms talks with Saudi investors’ delegation ‘elaborate’
• FM explains did not sanction wheat import as ECC head, reiterates Islamabad won’t take dictation on Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline project

ISLAMABAD: Against a flurry of activities between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to boost trade ties, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman is expected to arrive in Pakistan this month to conclude deals being negotiated between Islamabad and Riyadh.

According to Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, dates for the visit had not been communicated to Pakistan, but media reports claimed that the visit was likely on May 10-15.

“The crown prince had accepted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s invitation. The visit is on the cards, but no dates have been communicated to us as yet,” FM Dar said at a briefing on his participation in the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Saudi Arabia and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation meetings in Gambia.

He explained that the initial understanding was for discussions to commence at the government level after MBS committed to invest $5 billion in Pakistan, followed by subsequent talks between business executives. Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud led a ministerial delegation to Islamabad on April 15-16. Later, FM Dar and PM Shehbaz held meetings with Saudi leadership on the sidelines of the WEF and over the past few days a delegation of Saudi businessmen led by the Saudi deputy minister for investment visited Islamabad.

FM Dar said discussions with the Saudi business executives were “elaborate and the group left very impressed” with the way Pakistan was proceeding on the issue.

He said large projects like Reko Diq and petrochemicals would be undertaken at the government level, but the private sector would collaborate on increasing trade volume and joint ventures.

Pak-Iran gas pipeline

Speaking about the long-stalled project, the foreign minister said Islamabad would decide on this issue in light of its national interest and commitments it had made.

Referring to the external pressure, especially from the US, the minister said, “We can’t allow anyone to dictate to us or use the veto.”

He said Pakistan expected other countries to respect its sovereignty, much like it respected theirs.

At the conclusion of the Iranian president’s visit to Pakistan last month, both countries called for closer cooperation in the energy sector and the gas pipeline was mentioned as one of the projects. Both sides, however, did not say how they planned to move ahead in light of the US sanctions against Iran.

Furthermore, Ishaq Dar said he would visit China on a three-day trip from May 13 to May 15 for the strategic dialogue with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. This would be the foreign minister’s first visit to Beijing after the installation of the new government. His visit is likely to be preceded by Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal’s trip to China.

About the current wheat crisis, Ishaq Dar clarified that during the last tenure of the PML-N government, which ended last August, he did not approve a summary for the import of wheat that had been presented to him. He was the head of the of the Economic Coordination Committee. “The relevant ministry could not satisfy me about the need for importing wheat,” he said while clarifying his decision on not approving the summary.

PTI-US envoy meeting

The foreign minister confirmed that the Foreign Office had facilitated a meeting between US envoy Donald Blome and Opposition Leader Omar Ayub at the request of the US embassy.

This was part of a broader series of engagements that the US embassy sought with various Pakistani political figures, both from the government and opposition, in March.

This was part of a broader series of engagements that the US embassy sought with various Pakistani political figures, both from the government and opposition, in March.

“It was the initiative of the US envoy,” Mr Dar emphasised.

The PTI was chided by its opponents for engaging with the US envoy, given its past allegations that the US conspired to oust PTI leader Imran Khan as prime minister. The party, however, clarified that the meeting was facilitated by the FO and not sought by the PTI.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2024