Fruitless mediation

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif accompanied by Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and PM Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz met Saudi King Salman during one-day visti to Jeddah.

Such a high-ranking civil and military delegation shows that Pakistan is very much interested in removing tensions between Riyadh and Doha, but it will not be easy for Pakistan to convince Saudi rulers to change their hostile attitude towards Qatar.

There were reports that Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his delegation would probably visit Qatar after Saudi Arabia to complete the mediation process if talks in Jeddah come to good result. But Pakistani delegation left Jeddah for Islamabad.

According to the report of Saudi official news agency (SPA), the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia did not attend the meeting which indicates that Saudi Arabia is not paying enough attention to the international and regional efforts to solve the issue through diplomacy and dialogue.

Saudi news agency in its report said nothing regarding the purpose of the visit by the high-ranking Pakistani delegation to Jeddah. SPA only reported that King Salman met with Prime Minister Mohammad Nawaz Sharif and exchanged congratulations on the advent of the holy month of Ramadan.

In January 2016, after tensions erupted in Saudi Arabia-Iran ties, Pakistan prime minister and the then army chief General Raheel Sharif paid visits to Riyadh and Tehran to ease tension between the two leading countries of the Muslim world.

But despite Pakistan’s good-will efforts and Iran's welcoming the initiative by Pakistan, no positive step was taken by Saudi Arabia and the initiative by Pakistan remained fruitless.

It is vital for Pakistan to keep its ties with both Qatar and Saudi Arabia but it is not an easy job for Pakistan, especially at a time when Saudi Arabia is putting pressure on Qatar and has cut all ties with the small but oil and gas rich member of PGCC.

Qatar and Pakistan are close strategic partners and the trade volume between the two countries has jumped to 300 percent after they signed multi-billion dollar liquefied natural gas (LNG) deal last year.

Under the $ 16 billion deal Qatar will sell LNG to Pakistan for 16 years to meet domestic energy requirements. Right now the bilateral trade volume between the two countries is almost $ 1 billion.

There is a large Pakistani community living in Qatar which numbers over 50,000 who work in diverse fields and send remittances each year.

High officials of the two countries regularly visit the capitals of each other to further strengthen the bilateral ties.

During the 2010 Pakistan floods, Qatar provided timely assistance to the country. Qatar airways the national flag carrier of the country operates regular flights to all major cities of Pakistan.

Prime Minister of Qatar, Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani during a meeting with Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa in Doha had also sought assistance during forthcoming Football World Cup in Qatar, including provision of manpower.

*IRNA bureau chief, Islamabad

1723**2050