ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Senate Chairman Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday said that Pakistan wanted to deepen its cooperation with Saudi Arabia in the fields of education and religion.
He said this during a meeting with the Kingdom’s Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al-Sheikh in Riyadh today, reported state-run Radio Pakistan.
Gilani, who arrived in Saudi Arabia on November 25 for a five-day official visit, underscored the long-standing and robust ties between the two nations.
He highlighted Pakistan’s desire to expand bilateral collaboration in these key areas, emphasising the importance of mutual understanding and the exchange of religious scholars to foster tolerance and harmony.
This visit comes amid a period of growing cooperation between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. The two countries recently signed more than 30 memorandums of understanding and agreements valued at $2.8 billion, covering a wide range of sectors including industry, agriculture, information technology, and energy.
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In his remarks, Gilani praised the Grand Mufti’s efforts to promote peace and tolerance across the Muslim world and reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to furthering its relationship with Saudi Arabia in both religious and educational domains.
The longstanding relationship between the two countries is further strengthened by the presence of over 2.6 million Pakistanis working in Saudi Arabia who serve as the largest source of remittances to Pakistan, sending billions of dollars back home each year.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also visited Saudi Arabia twice in recent months, underscoring the importance Pakistan places on its strategic and economic partnership with the Kingdom.
