Religious Relations
Pakistan has always enjoyed very cordial relations with Saudi Arabia, based on religious fraternity. Holy Ka'ba and Masjid-e-Nabavi are the objects of deep reverence and love for every Muslim, wherever he lives in the world. The Muslims of the Sub-continent always expressed their feelings of deep love for Saudi Arabia. Notwithstanding the pressures and strains of international diplomacy, Saudi people reciprocated these gestures of good will in the like manner. On many occasions late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia expressed his deep feelings of love for Pakistan by saying that Pakistan was his second homeland. Faisal Mosque in Islamabad stands as a living monument of King Faisal's love for Pakistan and Saudi People's love for their Pakistani brethren.
Economic Cooperation
Pakistan's technical defense assistance programmes for Saudi Arabia started in the year 1967. Under these programmes great number of Saudi students came to Pakistan and earned degrees in the fields of Medicine and Engineering. Thousands of Pakistani experts are working in different fields in Saudi Arabia and making valuable contributions to the development of the country. Mentioned below, are some important projects accomplished through Saudi-Pak cooperation.
- Building of cement, polyester, fertilizer factories in Pakistan with Saudi assistance. Pak-Saudi Fertilize Factory in Mirpur Mathelo, Pak-Saudi Joint Investment Company, Al-Jazira Bank.
- In the field of trade both countries have given each other the status of "the most favoured ally". Imports and exports are carried out on a very large scale between the two countries.
Identity of Views
During the days of our freedom movement, most of the Arab countries supported the Congress point of view but Saudi-government and people rendered unflinching support to the cause of Pakistan. In order to educate the world community about the cause of Pakistan and court international support in favour of Pakistan Movement, the Quaid-e-Azam sent a delegation to New York during the General Assembly session in 1946. Faisal, who was then the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia, supported the cause of Pakistan and assured the delegation of full Saudi support. Saudi government recognized Pakistan immediately after independence. First pact of friendship and cooperation between the two countries was concluded in 1951. King Saud visited Pakistan in 1954, he was accorded hearty welcome. Saudi Arabia always supported Pakistan on Kashmir issue in unequivocal terms. During the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak Wars, Saudi Arabia provided us diplomatic and material support.
On the perplexing Bangladesh issue, the Saudi government stood steadfastly by Pakistan's side and did not recognize Bangladesh until Pakistan itself did so.
Russian interference in Afghanistan posed serious problems to Pakistan's security. In the Mulsim Foreign Minister's Conference of 1980, held in Islamabad, Saudi Arabia took a firm stand in Pakistan's favour. During Pakistan's long drawn out struggle against Russian imperialism, Saudi Arabia's moral and material support was a source of great strength for Pakistan.
High Level Ties
History of close friendly ties between the two countries dates back to the days of the Pakistan movement. Each Saudi head of the state paid several visits to Pakistan during his tenure of office; same is true about Pakistani heads of state and government. King Faisal played a key role in making the Lahore Summit Conference (Feb. 1974) a success.
Cooperation for Solving Internal Problems
In 1954 Kind Saud visited Pakistan and gave generous monetary help for the rehabilitation of refugees.Opposition took to protest after the controversial 1977 elections in Pakistan, King Khalid used his good offices and sent a special envoy who tried to bring about conciliation between the government and the opposition.
Saudi government helped Pakistan in running her programmes of Islaminzation, like implementation of the system of Zakat, teaching of Arabic language and Islamization of legal system. In 1978 King Khalid deputed a special envoy for assisting the government of Pakistan in the process of Islamization. Islamic University in Islamabad, established with the Saudi assistance, is symbolic of Saudi commitment to the Islamic reconstruction of the Pakistani society.
In the year 1980, when a group of militants desecrated the Holy Ka'bah by taking over the Harem, people of Pakistan expressed great resentment against the rebels and a group of Pakistani commandos assisted the Saudi authorities in restoring the sanctity of the Holy Ka'bah.
Saudi Arabia was the direct victim of Iraqi aggression that started with Iraq's attack on Kuwait. On diplomatic level Pakistan supported the cause of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Pakistani troops were dispatched to Saudi Arabia for the protection of the holy shrines including the Ka'bah and Masjid-e-Nabavi. On many occasions in the past, when the Pakistani people were hit hard by natural calamities like earthquakes, floods or internal problems like political or economic crises their Saudi brethren stood by their side with a generous helping hand.
Relations between countries are generally guided by national and diplomatic considerations, but relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia transcend al' these considerations, these are based on feeling of real fraternity and Islamic brotherhood. These ties are different in nature from the diplomatic relations governments usually have, these are deeply ingrained in the hearts of the people of the two countries. "Faisal Road", "Sharah-e-Faisal”, “Faisal Chouk", "Faisal Square" and "Faisal Park" are very familiar names and sights for all Pakistanis and these are found in almost all the big and the small cities of Pakistan, and these manifest the great love Pakistanis have for their Saudi brothren.
Our Foreign Policy: Failures and Successes
India, Pakistan, China and Japan started new phase of their lives as sovereign independent states at almost the same period of time in history. Pakistan and India inherited an excellent infrastructure especially of the railways and irrigation, built by the British during the days of their Raj. The two countries were blessed with plenty of natural and human resources.
Chinese had fought a tough battle to success and the Chinese leadership was faced with the mammoth problem of feeding their population which formed one third of the total human population on the globe. Japanese had also fought a long and tough battle and American nuclear attacks had shaken each and every bit of their existence. Inspite of all that, these two countries, The People's Republic of China and Japan, bewildered the entire world by their surprising achievements in all spheres of material life, especially in the economic field. Japan has now achieved the status of one of the richest countries of the world with highest annual per capital income and highest level of foreign exchange reserves. Annual growth rate of economy attained and maintained for several years by the People's Republic of China is a miracle of world history. These two countries were able to achieve the apparently unachievable targets of success in the fields of economic and technological growth, only because they said "no" to war and followed constructive policies based on peace and tranquility. After the Aug. 1945 debacle of Hiroshima and Nagasaki the Japanese King Hirohito was able to convince his nation that wars in future were going to be extremely expensive and devastating and impossible for any nation to afford. He advised his nation to resist the temptation of seeking vengeance on American aggressors and try to build up their capabilities in the fields of education, science and technology. This foresighted leader told his nation that arena of war has now shifted; wars in future will be fought in schools, colleges, universities, laboratories and factories and not in the traditional battlefields. Japanese took the advice of their leader and decided to endure their humiliation at the hands of Americans, with patience and restraint. The Chinese leadership took a similar decision when the People's Republic of China was proclaimed on Oct. 1, 1949.
The extremist element in the Indian leadership sowed the seeds of discord in the subcontinent, from the very first day India was partitioned. This is unfortunate for both countries that even in the later period they could not produce a far sighted and moderate leadership which could pull their people out of war frenzy and tell them that they were following un-achievable targets. Fortunately, after colossal loss of wealth and precious human resources, the political, military and intellectual leadership of the two countries has now realized that war mongering has paid them nothing, and in future nothing is going to come out of it. And that their targets have been unrealistic and unachievable, and that there is no reason that the poor people of this region should be kept suffering and starving for nothing for an indefinite period of time. People in this region have now started realizing that knowledge and peace are the two basic values on which a sustainable human culture can be based. History bears evidence, and common sense supports it, that for establishing peace, one party has to make unilateral sacrifice, though in the end, the party which seems to be the loser by way of sacrificing its otherwise established rights, may emerge as gainer and victorious in the end (for the Muslims of Pakistan Hudaibia Peace Pact made by Hazrat Muhammad Rasool Ullah stands as the greatest example). This is an undeniable fact that nations can change their friends but not their neighbours. Leadership of Pakistan and India should realize the realities emerging with the change of times, forsake their traditional thinking, and instead of looking back to the past, should adopt a progressive, futuristic outlook.
