Saudi Arabia on Kashmir: The issue of Kashmir is such that Pakistan keeps wandering from pillar to post to turn the world against India. Pakistan feels that being an Islamic country, at least the Muslim Arab countries will stand with it on the Kashmir issue. However, recently, Saudi Arabia, the most prominent country of the Arab World, has taken India’s hand on Kashmir instead of Pakistan, due to which there has been a stir in the neighboring country.
Actually, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif is currently in Mecca, the most important city of Muslims, which is located in Saudi Arabia. Here he met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. After the meeting between the two, a joint statement was issued in which Saudi Arabia supported India’s stand on Jammu and Kashmir. In the statement, this Gulf country said that New Delhi-Islamabad should resolve their disputed issues bilaterally.
What has been India’s stand on Kashmir?
The issue of Jammu and Kashmir has been a cause of dispute between India and Pakistan for the last seven decades. Both the countries have also fought a war over this. India’s long-standing position on Kashmir has been that it is a bilateral issue between the two countries. There is no question of any third party mediation or interference in this. Many countries including America have also offered to mediate between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue, but India has always refused it.
What did Saudi Arabia say on Kashmir?
Both Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed the statement issued after the meeting between Shahbaz and the Crown Prince at Al-Safa Palace in Mecca. The statement said, “Both sides (Pakistan-Saudi Arabia) agreed to resolve the outstanding issues between the two countries (India-Pakistan), especially the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, to ensure peace and stability in the region.” Emphasized the importance of dialogue between India and India.
India-Saudi Arabia friendship strengthened
Both India and Pakistan have long had friendly relations with Arab countries including Saudi Arabia. However, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi Relations between New Delhi and Riyadh have improved significantly under the government of. He has visited Saudi Arabia on several occasions. Modi visited Riyadh in 2016 during his first term as Prime Minister. After this, PM Modi visited Saudi Arabia in October 2019 in his second term.