The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz held official talks with the Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif yesterday at the Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh  where they addressed bilateral relations between the two countries and regional and international developments.

The meeting was attended by a number of officials and princes from both sides including the Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who is also Minister of Defense and Second Deputy Prime Minister, and the Pakistani Chief of Army Staff Raheel Sharif.

Dr. Abdul Karim Bakhsh who is a member of Pakistan’s parliament said in a call with Asharq Al-Awsat that Nawaz Sharif’s visit to Saudi Arabia and his meeting with the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques indicate that the relationship between the two countries is strong and solid and that Pakistan took corresponding stances to those taken by Riyadh on a number of occasions and appreciates Saudi Arabia’s support in any crisis that it faces.

He also stressed that the Pakistani government has the ability to decide what conforms to public interest and added that it does not require a parliamentary decision to stand in solidarity with Saudi Arabia. He continued by saying that the ruling party represents more than half of the seats in parliament and that most of the members of this party deem it necessary to stand with the Kingdom against Iranian violations which have escalated recently.

Dr Bakhsh expressed concern about Iranian interference in the affairs of countries in the region and ruled out any Iranian impact on the decisions taken in Pakistan whether these decisions are taken by the government or parliament. He also warned that Tehran continues to supply sectarian militias that operate on an agenda that strives to cause sectarian fighting.