LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has felicitated the leadership and people of Saudi Arabia on the Kingdom’s National Day, saying the people of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia were very happy over the Makkah Agreement.
In a special message issued on the occasion, the chief minister said Pakistan considered the protection of Haramain Sharifain a matter of great honour and privilege, and that the Pakistani leadership and people held Saudi Arabia in the highest regard with love, devotion and respect.
Describing the agreement between the two countries, the chief minister said the Makkah Agreement was an important step towards peace and stability in the region. Relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, she said, were based on mutual trust, sincerity and brotherhood, and rooted in the shared faith of Islam.
She said Saudi Arabia today held a prominent position in the world due to the vision and wisdom of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and prayed for peace, progress and prosperity in the Kingdom.
“May Allah Almighty always preserve the bonds of brotherhood between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia,” the chief minister prayed.
The message follows months of public discussion in Pakistan about the scope of the arrangement. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has described the pact as purely defensive and open to other regional states, while Bangladesh has said it would positively consider joining and religious-political parties have urged more Muslim states to sign on.
Security around the holy sites has been a recurring theme in that discussion, particularly after the attempted drone attack on Makkah, which Pakistan condemned, and the statements that followed on the security of the Haramain. The National Day itself was marked in Pakistan, as our earlier report on the state of the relationship noted.
Saudi Arabia remains among the largest destinations for Pakistani workers and a significant source of remittances, much of it flowing to households in Punjab. Provincial-level messaging on the relationship therefore carries an economic dimension alongside the religious and diplomatic one.
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