Saudi foreign minister arrives in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir arrived in Islamabad on Thursday on an important two-day visit to Pakistan.

The Prime Minister's Adviser on Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz, and other senior officials received the distinguished guest at the airport.

The Saudi minister is scheduled to hold meetings with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and other high ranking officials. 

Sources said the Saudi minister will also discuss Pakistan's inclusion and its role in a Saudi-led 34-country coalition against terrorism.

He will also have talks with the Pakistani leadership on different aspects of bilateral relations and regional and international issues of mutual interest.

The foreign minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was scheduled to visit Pakistan on January 3 but it was postponed after a rise in tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, after Iranian protestors ransacked the Saudi Embassy in Tehran and Riyadh cut diplomatic ties with Iran.

Diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran – Pakistan's neighbour to the west – deteriorated as Iranian protestors reacted with fury to Riyadh's execution of prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr earlier this week.

The international community has urged Saudi Arabia and Iran to observe restraint after tensions over the execution of the cleric and 46 others — Saudi Arabia's biggest mass execution for decades.

The Saudi foreign minister's visit comes as Iran accused the Saudi collation warplanes of attacking its embassy in Yemen's capital, a development that would exacerbate tensions between the two regional powers. Riyadh said it would investigate the accusation.

Pakistan has expressed concern over ongoing tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran, with the Foreign Office condemning the attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Foreign Office said providing security to diplomatic staff and mission is the responsibility of the state and that hostile forces could try to take advantage of the differences of the Muslim Ummah.