After Pakistan criticised Saudi Arabia for its failure to step forward to support Kashmir through the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation that it heads, Riyadh has ended a $3.2 billion oil-credit facility to Pakistan after forcing it to return $1bn loan.
In an ultimatum to Saudi Arabia, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had said that Pakistan would have to look for other options if the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation doesn’t come forward in support of its stance on Kashmir.
Qureshi had said that OIC that is led by Saudi Arabia should decide if it wanted to stand with Pakistan on such a sensitive issue, as Pakistan can’t wait for Saudi support anymore. He had said Pakistan skipped Malaysia summit though with a ‘heavy heart’ due to Saudi Arabia’s reservations, so now it was time for Saudis to step forward.
A report claims that the loan was part of a $6.2 billion package announced by Saudi Arabia in November 2018, which included a total of $3 billion in loans and an oil credit facility amounting to $3.2 billion. Those deals were then signed when Crown Prince Muhammed Bin Salman made a visit to Pakistan in February last year.
Relations between the two countries then started to break down, however, when Riyadh turned down Islamabad’s request to convene a special meeting of the OIC’s Council of Foreign Ministers.
In an ultimatum to Saudi Arabia, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had said that Pakistan would have to look for other options if the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation doesn’t come forward in support of its stance on Kashmir.
Qureshi had said that OIC that is led by Saudi Arabia should decide if it wanted to stand with Pakistan on such a sensitive issue, as Pakistan can’t wait for Saudi support anymore. He had said Pakistan skipped Malaysia summit though with a ‘heavy heart’ due to Saudi Arabia’s reservations, so now it was time for Saudis to step forward.