Jan 18 , 2016
News
Politicians hail PM’s visit to Saudi Arabia, Iran as a ‘wise step’
APPISLAMABAD: Politicians on both sides of the aisle on Sunday welcomed Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif’s visit to Saudi Arabia and Iran that was aimed at defusing the prevailing tension between the two countries.
Mushahid Hussain Sayed, chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, said it was a very positive and timely initiative of the prime minister and Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif to defuse the tension between Jeddah and Tehran. This bold move of the Pakistani leadership was a good omen for the Muslim world, said Sayed, who is also secretary general of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q). He was of the view that Pakistan had good relations with both Saudi Arabia and Iran therefore it could play a pivotal role in de-escalation of tension between the two nations. “Defusing the mounting Saudi-Iran tension is in the interest of Pakistan as well as the entire region,” he added.
Awami National Party (ANP) spokesman Zahid Khan expressed the hope that mediation by Pakistan would help normalize the situation in the region. From the first day of the Saudi-Iran standoff, he said, his party stressed the need for mediation and urged the government not to become a party to the conflict. “ANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khan suggested that nobody should interfere in the affairs of the two countries. He called for settlement of the issue through a meaningful dialogue,” he added.
Senator Taj Haider of the Pakistan People Party (PPP) said that Pakistan had already suffered a lot. He said that forging unity in the Muslim world was the dream of PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and he was the champion of pan-Islamism.
The timely move of the Pakistani leadership would go a long way in easing the tension between the two countries, he added.
Senator Sirajul Haq, chief of the Jamaat-i-Islami, described the prime minister’s visit to Saudi Arabia and Iran as a wise step and said the whole nation wanted the tension between the two countries to ease through peaceful negotiations. “The reconciliatory role being played by the prime minister at this critical juncture will further improve Pakistan’s image at the international level, especially in the Muslim world,” he said. He said that imperialistic forces were hatching conspiracies to pit Muslims against Muslims. He urged both Saudi Arabia and Iran to sort out their differences mutually.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said the prime minister had taken the initiative to reach out to the leadership of Saudi Arabia and Iran so that differences between the two countries could be sorted out. “The prime minister’s reconciliatory role will help forge unity in the Muslim world besides sorting out differences,” he added.
Jamiat Ahle Hadith chief Prof Sajid Mir said that prime minister’s visit to Saudi Arabia and Iran was the need of the hour and it would increase the chances of rapprochement between the two countries. He said that most of the Pakistanis wanted the government to play a mediator’s role in the Saudi-Iran conflict.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk