LAHORE: PML-Q leaders Chaudhry Shujaat Husain and Pervaiz Elahi have said the Foreign Office should have exercised maximum care with regard to Pak-Saudi relations.

“Saudi Arabia is not only our brotherly country, but also the centre of our religious beliefs. Saudi Arabia has always supported Pakistan in every difficult time,” they said in a joint statement here on Thursday.

The opposition had also criticised Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s remarks about the Saudi Arabia-led Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), calling these “highly unfortunate and irresponsible”.

The PML-Q leaders questioned the FO’s diplomacy for ignoring the nature of the country’s relations with Saudi Arabia.

“What was the need for giving such a statement after which explanations have to be given,” Chaudhry Shujaat said and added if one pointed out the mistakes for correction, this was taken as the government’s opposition, and this was not the right attitude.He said that millions of Pakistanis were earning their livelihoods in Saudi Arabia. “Every patriot will foil any attempt to spoil Pak-Saudi relations. Nobody has the right to harm [Pakistan’s] relations with brotherly Islamic countries,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2020