Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Tuesday said that Saudi Arabia requires 10 million additional hands (jobs) including blue-collar and white-collar jobs in the next 10 years as per the vision of Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman and Saudi authorities wanted to allocate a portion to Pakistanis.
Qureshi was addressing the news conference in Islamabad on Tuesday.
The Foreign Minister termed the recent visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to Saudi Arabia an extraordinary one and its results will be visible in the coming days.
Qureshi said an institutionalized mechanism has been put in place in order to further strengthen the bilateral relationship in different fields.
The Foreign Minister said a Saudi delegation of senior officials will visit Pakistan after Eid to build upon the discussion that took place in Jeddah. This will be followed by the visit of Saudi Foreign Minister.
Qureshi said the Saudi visit defeated the designs of those elements who were trying to draw a wedge between the two brotherly countries.
Pakistan condemns Israel attack on Palestinians
The Foreign Minister strongly condemned the Israeli violence against innocent and unarmed Palestinians.
He urged the international community to mobilize its efforts to stop the Israeli atrocities against Palestinians and their forced evictions from their homes.
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Referring to his telephonic conversation with his Turkey counterpart, the Foreign Minister said Mevlut Cavusoglu is in Saudi Arabia and during talks with the Saudi Foreign Minister today, he will propose an emergency ministerial level meeting of the OIC in order to effectively raise voice of Muslim Ummah on the Palestinian issue.
No change in Kashmir policy
Qureshi said Jammu and Kashmir cannot be an internal issue of India as it is on the agenda of the UN and there are several Security Council resolutions on it.
He clarified that that there is no change in Pakistan's historic and principled position on Jammu and Kashmir dispute.
The Foreign Minister said Pakistan and Kashmiri people have totally rejected the illegal steps taken by India on the 5th August 2019.
He said Pakistan has raised its voice on the matter at all the international forums.
Qureshi said at present no talks are taking place with India.
He said talks can take place if India revisits its policy in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and provides relief to the people there.
The Foreign Minister also welcomed the ceasefire announcement by the Afghan government and the Taliban on the occasion of Eid saying it is a positive development and will create an enabling environment for future talks.
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He assured that Pakistan will continue to support and facilitate the Afghan peace process. He said peace in Afghanistan is in the interest of Pakistan.
The Minister categorically stated that Pakistan will not give any base to the US after its withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Qureshi said signs of peace have emerged in Afghanistan after Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa visited Kabul on Monday.