Riyadh – Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz said that Saudi Arabia is facing those who call for extremism and immoderation, adding that his country supports any political solution for the international crisis giving way to achieve development.

King Salman delivered a speech at the inauguration of the works of the first year of the seventh session of the Shura Council at its headquarters, during which he reviewed Saudi Arabia’s foreign and domestic policies setting the roadmap for the Kingdom.

The king appreciated the Council’s works and efforts, wishing it all success in its new session.

“Your state has been founded on the Holy Quran and Prophetic Sunnah and has exploited all its potentialities to protect the security of the state and the society, serve the Two Holy Mosques and their visitors, and provide the best services to citizens. Today, your country is proceeding with firm steps towards adapting to new developments and dealing with the challenges with a solid will to maintain the achievements, the Kingdom’s status among the nations, and its active role regionally and internationally,” stressed the king.

The King continued to address the council saying: “Your state is the state of Islam which is the true religion revealed to the Prophet of mankind Muhammad (pbuh), the religion of moderation and tolerance with which we deal and seek to apply as it was during the era of the Prophet and Caliphs after him. The Prophet is our supreme ideal and will confront anyone who calls for extremism and immoderation and for carelessness about the religion.”

In his speech, the king explained the Kingdom’s domestic policy saying that it is based on the pillars of maintaining security, stability and prosperity in order to diversify sources of income, and raise the society’s productivity to achieve the development and meet needs of the present and preserve the right of future generations.

“As you know, the world is experiencing severe economic fluctuations that affected most countries and led to weak growth and drop in oil prices,” he added.

The Custodian of the two holy mosques reiterated that the state has sought to deal with these variables in a way that does not affect what it looks forward to achieving by taking a variety of measures to restructure the economy.

The King went on to say that: “Similar circumstances have passed in our country during the past three decades during which the state was forced to reduce its expenditures, but it came out of them with a strong economy and growing and continuous growth; and we have set out our reforms today to look forward to the future and prepare for it as early as before the occurrence of crises.”

King Salman said Vision 2030 consists of vast social, economic and development plans and programs aimed at preparing the Kingdom for a bright future. Its priorities include improving the performance of the government and private sectors, strengthening transparency and honesty, and improving spending efficiency by upgrading quality of services provided to citizens.

In the field of foreign policy, the King stressed that Saudi Arabia will continue to take the approach of cooperation with the international community for world peace and promoting interaction with peoples to consolidate values of tolerance and coexistence.

“We believe that the option of a political solution to international crises is the perfect solution to achieve the aspirations of the peoples towards peace and giving way to achieve development,” the King said.

King Salman pointed out that the conditions the Kingdom is now experiencing are not more difficult than previous ones. he affirmed that the kingdom will overpass them to a better and brilliant future.

“I say that and I am fully confident in Allah Almighty and then in the people of this country; and we will not allow anyone of terrorist organizations or those who stand behind them to exploit our people to achieve suspicious goals in our country or in Arab and Islamic worlds, and in spite of tragedies, killing and displacement being experienced by our Arab region, I am optimistic about a better tomorrow, God willing,” he confirmed.

Concerning Yemen, the King reiterated Saudi Arabia’s belief that the security of Yemen is of the security of the Kingdom, and Riyadh will not accept any interference in its internal affairs or whatever affects its legitimacy, or being a base or corridor for any countries or parties targeting the security of the Kingdom and the region or trying to undermine its stability.

King Salman expressed his hopes that: “United Nations’ efforts will lead to a political solution in Yemen according to the United Nations Security Council’s resolution No. (2216), Gulf initiative and outputs of the national dialogue.”

Finally, the King addressed the Council saying: “Your honorable Council assumes great responsibilities towards the nation and citizens, and I call on you all as I mentioned to you yesterday that you have to put the interests of the homeland and citizens always in your minds. Present your views on the contents of the governmental reports referred to the Council and consult with officials, and the officials in all agencies should cooperate with the Council and provide it with the information it needs, wishing you all success in your works, on which we attach great hopes, and we are sure that you are qualified for that.”