Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Monday that Saudi Arabia was a strategic partner and would remain a strategic partner of Pakistan. 

Speaking to the media, Qureshi said that Pakistan was well aware of the importance of its strategic relationship with Saudi Arabia. He said that Saudi Arabia was the home to holy places like Makkah and Madina and every Muslim was ready to sacrifice his life to uphold the sanctity of these holy places. He said that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia were the only two countries in the Muslim world, which had resolutions passed against the Western attempts to promote Islamophobia. He said that Dubai had professional relations with India and that was a natural phenomenon, but Dubai’s ties with India would not affect its relations with Pakistan. He said the Israeli prime minister was expected to visit Dubai soon. He said that every country had the right to make decisions keeping in view its interests. 

The foreign minister said that Kashmir is the jugular vein of Pakistan and nobody could deny this fact. He said that former rulers of Pakistan would not say a word on Kashmir at the United Nations. He said he agreed to PPP Senator Sherry Rehman’s view that Pakistan’s foreign policy should be developed on a long term basis, but she should tell the trainee working under her not to issue irresponsible statements about the disputed region.