[Arab World] Pakistan forced to pay back Saudi USD 1 billion

The fact that Islamabad is gradually losing the support of other Muslim countries has become clearer as Pakistan has recently paid back USD 1 billion to Saudi Arabia.

According to reports, Pakistan has given back Saudi Arabia USD 1 billion out of a USD 3 billion loan that it secured one and a half year ago to avoid default on international debt obligations.

This development came even as Pakistan has been pushing for the foreign ministers’ meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) since India abrogated Article 370.

Saudi Arabia had shown reluctance to accept Islamabad’s request for an immediate meeting of OIC foreign ministers on Kashmir, a Pakistan diplomatic source confirmed.

Prime Minister Imran Khan after failing to gather support from the OIC members on Kashmir on May 22, said, “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.”

Maldives, an ally of India, thwarted the move of Pakistan that reportedly made attempts to push its narrative of raising the issue of rising Islamophobia in India in its agenda and said, “Isolated statements by motivated people and disinformation campaigns on social media should not be construed as representative of the feelings of 1.3 billion.”

“It would be detrimental to the religious harmony in the South Asian region. Islam has existed in India for centuries and it is the second-largest religion in India, with 14.2 per cent of the country’s population,” Thilmeeza Hussain, Maldives Permanent Representative to the United Nations said.

China is taking full advantage of Pakistan as it is now on the verge of losing its Muslim friends.

Beijing has become “time-tested friend” and has given a loan of USD 1 billion to “help Islamabad avoid any adverse impact of the partial withdrawal of the Saudi lifeline,” sources in the Ministry of Finance and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s top economic body has giving the go-ahead for a USD 6.8 billion project to upgrade its railway lines, approving its costliest project to date as part of the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) agreement, according to media reports.