Pauper Pakistan to benefit from Imran Khan’s departure, $ 8 billion ‘bailout’ from Saudi
Pakistan, which is on the verge of bankruptcy, has received huge financial help from Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has announced a new loan of $ 8 billion to Pakistan. In this package, along with money, borrowed oil and repayment of old loans are also included. These days the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif is on a visit to Saudi Arabia. During the meeting with him, the Saudi administration has once again forgiven Pakistan and announced financial help. Indeed, during the tenure of Imran Khan, there was a lot of bitterness in the relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. The situation had become so bad that Saudi had demanded back the old loan of $ 4.2 billion given to Pakistan.
Saudi-Pakistan agreed on $8 billion package
According to the report of The News International, the package of $ 8 billion includes lending oil, money for economic development and repayment of old debt of $ 4.2 billion. However, there is still no final agreement between the officials of the two countries on the technical issues of this package. In such a situation, it may take a week for the documents to be prepared and signed by the top leaders of both the countries.
PM Shahbaz leaves for Pakistan leaving the finance minister in Saudi
It is being told that Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has left for his return from Saudi Arabia with his heavy delegation. But, Pakistan’s Finance Minister Mifta Ismail is still stuck there to finalize this financial package. Mifta Ismail tweeted that I said goodbye to Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and other colleagues at Jeddah airport. They are leaving for Pakistan after stopping in Abu Dhabi to meet Crown Prince Muhammad bin Zayed.
Saudi also increased the quota for lending oil
A senior Pakistani official said that Saudi Arabia has accepted a proposal to increase the lending facility from $1.2 billion to $2.4 billion. During this it has also been agreed that the existing deposits of $3 billion will be put to use by June 2023. Apart from this, talks are also being held on additional assistance of two billion dollars between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
How are the relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia
Relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have been constantly fluctuating. Saudi Arabia is also called the ATM of Pakistan. In 2019, when India removed Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, Saudi kept silent. For this reason, Pakistan criticized Saudi in a suppressed language on the Organization of Islamic countries OIC and other forums. Then Saudi was so enraged that he not only demanded the return of his debt but also stopped the supply of crude oil to Pakistan on the line of credit. Later, the supply was restored after pleadings by Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, PM Imran Khan and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
Was annoyed by Imran’s pretense of being a leader of Muslims
Imran Khan had supported a Muslim summit organized by Malaysia in 2019 while opposing the Saudi caliphate. Turkey also supported Pakistan and Malaysia in this. Saudi Arabia, home to some of Islam’s holiest shrines, saw the incident as a threat to its hold on the Muslim world. After which Pakistan immediately withdrew from this summit of Malaysia. Despite this, Saudi Arabia ordered Pakistan to immediately return the debt of three billion dollars.
