Pak Army Chief General Bajwa's Saudi Trip Bears No Fruits, Fails To Meet Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman

Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa who was on a Saudi Arabia visit since Monday (17 August) returned home after his request to meet Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman was turned down.

According to a Hindustan Times report, General Bajwa, along with Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed, was in Riyadh to ease diplomatic tensions between the two nations that arouse out due to Imran Khan government's criticism of Saudi Arabia.

Bajwa had to settle for a meeting with with Deputy Defence Minister Sheikh Khalid Bin Salman and the younger brother of the Crown Prince.

The two top military commanders of Pakistan reportedly conveyed apologies from their government to Deputy Defence Minister Sheikh Khalid Bin Salman, but it did not help Islamabad's case in Riyadh, as per sources cited in HT report.

Apart from this, General Bajwa's talks remained limited to Saudi's defence establishment.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had slammed the gulf nation after the latter refused to convene a meeting of Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) to discuss Kashmir issue. He had also threaten to call a separate meeting of Islamic countries outside the OIC against India.

“If you (OIC) cannot convene it, then I’ll be compelled to ask Prime Minister Imran Khan to call a meeting of the Islamic countries that are ready to stand with us on the issue of Kashmir and support the oppressed Kashmiris,” Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told local media last week.

Pakistan has long been pushing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the OIC to hold a high-level sit-in to discuss its allegations against India, especially related to Jammu and Kashmir.

However, after India has developed strong ties with many gulf nations over the last six years, Pakistan's attempts have not tasted a proper success, according to a diplomat cited by HT.

Recently Pakistan has also moved away from Arab countries and has been closer to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Ottoman revival as Turkey has openly backed Pakistan’s stand on Kashmir.