Saudi Arabia stops loan, oil supply to Pakistan ending decade-long ties

Saudi Arabia has reportedly ended a loan and oil supply to Pakistan after Islamabad criticised Riyadh-led Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for not taking a stance against India over Kashmir issue. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, in a warning tone, had asked OIC to convene a meeting of Council of Foreign Ministers to raise the issue.

“If you 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,” Qureshi had told local media.

Pakistan has also been made to repay a $1 billion Saudi loan which was part of a $6.2 billion package announced by Riyadh in November 2018. The deal, signed between the two countries during Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman visit to Pakistan in February 2019, included a total of $3 billion in loans and an oil credit facility amounting to $3.2 billion.

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'Total division'

Saudi Arabia has been working to expand its partnership with India and has been trying to avoid controversial issues that could jeopardise the relations with New Delhi. The OIC has been consistently denying Imran Khan's requests of holding a meeting over Kashmir, where the latter has been waging a proxy war against India through terrorism. Khan had earlier lamented the “total division” among OIC members after it failed to gather support on Kashmir issue.

"The reason is that we have no voice and there is a total division amongst (us). We cannot even come together as a whole on the OIC meeting on Kashmir," he had said.

This comes amid reports of Pakistan running to China requesting financial aid to avoid defaulting on its debt payments to Saudi Arabia. According to the Pakistani Ministry of Finance and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Pakistan has taken a loan of $1 billion from China to repay a $1 billion loan taken from Saudi Arabia.

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(With ANI inputs)