Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have strong and close relations which are based on mutual respect, harmony, shared values and a common faith. Earlier, during the earthquake, the Saudi Government and people had extended whole hearted and generous support for relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction.
Over a million Pakistanis are residing and working in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia while over 600,000 Pakistanis visit Saudi Arabia for performance of Haj and Umrah every year. Now our Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani was in the Kingdom. This time Pakistan is to ask Saudi Arabia if it can defer paying for oil imports worth two billion dollars as it grapples with a deteriorating economic situation fuelled by rise in global crude prices.
Pakistan has been stuck up in crisis. Whether it is food crisis, electricity, terrorism, unstable economy, hunger, weak democracy, judicial crisis. Pakistan's economy is under pressure from surging oil prices, which have inflated the oil import bill over 40 percent in the past 10 months compared with year-ago levels.
In the meantime we poor Pakistanis are suffering with 50 percent living below the poverty line, and many more being pushed under due to the current oil crisis. In 60 days, many people committed suicide. Poor people have no interest in judicial crisis.
Electricity riots are already a common sight but the frequency of breadlines breaking into riots is increasing daily, not just in Somalia but in parts of the third world where we thought wheat was never in critical shortage. The riots in Pakistan are for two reasons. Firstly, the price - a world-wide phenomenon, and second, a physical shortage due mainly to incompetence in the many layers of our government.
Yet in Pakistan the coal excavation has not even started. We have sunk billions of dollars into Gwadar port, which has handled zero cargo so far, since its dramatic opening two years ago, and it will be many years before Gwadar will see a cargo vessel.
Western economists have warned that Pakistan would have to raise domestic oil prices if it wanted to qualify for a crucial World Bank loan of 500 million dollars that it has asked for.
Independent economists say that, while the World Bank's loan would be a modest amount for Pakistan, it would allow it to seek commercial loans. But the World Bank is urging Pakistan to withdraw subsidies from local oil consumers and ending subsidies would be a very unpopular step by a government whose future is uncertain.
The country can progress only when there is stability in all these matters. But my question is that till how long our Saudi brother would help us? It was a 3-day visit with almost 100 delegates. I cannot understand why so many people? Till how long? We are in this situation due to our own. Meanwhile the historical, unique and fraternal relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia will continue to grow.
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