Describing Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s statement about Saudi Arabia as irresponsible, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif on Friday said the incumbent PTI government’s short-sightedness was, unfortunately, pushing Pakistan towards isolation in the world affairs.
In a statement, Shehbaz said the reckless statement about the brotherly disastrous, condemnable and against national interests. The PTI government was damaging the sensitive affairs on the diplomatic front either due to its insanity or some intentional agenda, he added.
Pakistan always played a role for unity and resolving the differences among the Ummah’s ranks, said Shehbaz but the current government had resorted to similar acts in the case of other friendly countries too.
Shehbaz stressed the need for apologising to Saudi Arabia and dealing the matters in an amicable and wise manner.
Citing the historic relations between the two nations and how the Kingdom has always supported Pakistan on various occasions, the PML-N president said the entire nation was perturbed by the immature media statement.
Earlier, PML-N Secretary-General Ahsan Iqbal – in a series of tweets posted both in English and Arabic, expressed similar views and said the PTI government had isolated Pakistan on the world diplomatic stage.
He noted that “such irresponsible public statements about a brotherly country are most irresponsible and worst kind of diplomacy. The immature and incapable government is playing with Pakistan's vital interests.”
This reaction by the top PML-N leadership came as Qureshi told a private channel in talk-show that Pakistan could move forward and go for a session of Muslim countries’ foreign ministers even without Saudi Arabia and outside the OIC.
Qureshi said Pakistan had skipped the Kuala Lumpur Summit last December on Riyadh’s request and the Pakistani Muslims were demanding Riyadh to “show leadership on the issue”.