Pakistan has requested Saudia Arabia to take steps in order to facilitate thePakistani workers who had returned to Pakistan after Covid-19 pandemic but have failed to go back to the kingdom due to the strict Covid related restrictions imposed by Riyadh.
The issue was flagged both by Prime Minister Imran Khan and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in separate meetings with visiting Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al Saud on Tuesday.
The top Saudi diplomat visited Pakistan as a follow up of the visit undertaken by Prime Minister Imran Khan to Riyadh in May this year.
Apart from other issues, one of the agenda items for discussion during the Saudi foreign minister’s interaction with the Pakistani leadership was to seek an early return of Pakistani workers to S Arabia. Saudi Arabia is home to almost 2 million Pakistanis working in different fields.Due to Covid-19 pandemic many Pakistanis returned to the country but they were unable to go back to the kingdom due to travel restrictions imposed by Riyadh.
In his joint news conference with his Saudi counterpart, Foreign Minister Qureshi said there are about 400,000 Pakistanis who have been waiting for the travel restrictions to be eased so that they could rejoin their work in the Kingdom.
“Noting the difficulties being faced by Pakistani nationals due to Covid-related travel restrictions, the prime minister underlined the importance of timely measures for facilitation of their return to Saudi Arabia,” said an official handout issued by the PM office after the PM’s meeting with the Saudi minister.
The tens of thousands of Pakistanis working in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries have been the source of precious foreign exchange. Last year overseas Pakistanis sent record remittances, much to the relief of government desperately looking for foreign exchange reserves.
Qureshi at the news conference also talked about Saudi Arabia importing Pakistani manpower for Saudi Arabia’s 2030 vision.
The latest visit is a sign of easing frictions between the two traditional allies. The two countries have had struggled to overcome differences on certain issues.
Riyadh was reluctant to back Islamabad on the longstanding Kashmir dispute after New Delhi revoked the specials status of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) while Pakistan was wary of Saudi Arabia policies on the Yemen war as well as Israel.
But the visit by Premier Imran in May to the kingdom broke the ice and the ties appear to be back on track.
This was reflected in the joint news conference where the Saudi foreign minister highlighted the importance kingdom attaches to its ties with Pakistan.
Also read Delegations discuss bilateral ties ahead of Saudi FM's visit
Prince Faisal said the primary objective of his visit was to follow up on the visit of PM Imran where the two countries activated the high-level Saudi-Pakistan Supreme Coordination Council.
Qureshi said the two countries appointed focal persons for the council that according to him would give new impetus to the ties between the two countries.
FM Qureshi thanked his Saudi counterpart for what he said Riyadh’s unwavering support to Pakistan on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) issue. He also said he briefed the Saudi foreign minister about the current situation in IIOJK, Afghanistan and other security challenges in the region.
The Saudi foreign minister underlined the need for resolution of all issues through dialogue and insisted that peace and stability in the region was a prerequisite for economic and trade cooperation not just between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia but among other regional countries.
