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(Bloomberg) — Pakistan’s prime minister pledged “full solidarity and support” for Saudi Arabia following a visit to the Middle Eastern kingdom on Thursday, as Islamabad steps up its diplomatic engagement in the Gulf region in an effort to mediate the widening war.
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Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif traveled to Jeddah where he met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, according to a statement from Sharif’s office. Sharif said Pakistan would “always stand firmly with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and strive for their mutual desire for peace in the region,” the statement said.
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The visit came a day after Sharif spoke with Iran’s president about the deteriorating situation in the Middle East. Iran has been pummeling Gulf nations, including Saudi Arabia, with waves of missile strikes in response to its war with Israel and the US, pushing up oil prices and disrupting global energy supply chains.
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Pakistani officials say the country has been intensifying its efforts to mediate the conflict and prevent the war from escalating further. Its efforts have been complicated by the fact that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a mutual-defense pact last year.
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Sharif’s visit should be seen “in broader context of Pakistan’s efforts to facilitate and advocate an early cessation of hostilities and violence in the region,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Hussain Andrabi said at a weekly briefing on Thursday in Islamabad.
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Rashid Ahmad Khan, an international relations expert based in Lahore, said it’s “highly unlikely” that Pakistan would attack Iran in retaliation for its strikes on Saudi Arabia. Pakistan has a large Shiite Muslim population affiliated with Iran, and deadly protests occurred in places like Karachi and elsewhere in the aftermath of the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
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Pakistan, however, could come to Saudi Arabia’s aid by “defending against drone attacks” and providing technical military support on Saudi soil, he said.
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On Wednesday, Sharif’s spokesman, Mosharraf Zaidi, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV that there was “no question” Pakistan would come to Saudi Arabia’s aid, “no matter what and no matter when.”
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“The real question is what is Pakistan doing to make sure things don’t come to a point where any of its closest partners are further embroiled in a conflict that could potentially undermine stability and prosperity in the region,” he added.
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Also present at Thursday’s meeting in Saudi Arabia was Pakistan’s top military leader, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, as well as Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar, the prime minister’s office said.
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The visit to Saudi Arabia followed a phone call between Sharif and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday, in another sign of back-channel talks to find a resolution to the conflict. Pezeshkian said Wednesday one of the conditions for a ceasefire would be “guarantees against future aggression” and that he’d relayed that message to leaders of Russia and Pakistan.
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