Various media outlets published the denial a day after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had claimed that Riyadh had issued economic threats to Pakistan to pressure it into withdrawing from attending the gathering of Muslim leaders in Malaysia.
Erdogan divulged that the Saudis had threatened to withdraw a loan to Pakistan’s central bank and replace four million Pakistanis working in Saudi Arabia with Bangladeshi workers.
Pakistan has been facing a major balance of payment crisis for which it has sought massive loans from Saudi Arabia and the International Monetary Fund.
The four-day conference was held to address some of the Islamic world’s thorniest issues. Pakistan leader Imran Khan decided to skip the summit at the last minute.
Saudi Arabia had said its leaders were not attending the summit because it was being held outside the aegis of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), based in Jeddah.
The embassy’s statement said relations between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan “were cordial and did not require use of threatening language”.
“The brotherly relations between the countries are longstanding and strategic, based on trust, understanding and mutual respect, and the two countries enjoy a consensus of views on most regional and international issues, especially the issues of the Islamic nations.”
The statement said both sides had complete agreement on the idea of Muslim unity and maintaining the role of the OIC.
The embassy said the kingdom had always stood by Pakistan in difficult times due to the fraternal relations between the two sides, noting that Saudi Arabia always wanted Pakistan to be a successful and stable country.
Pakistan’s envoy to Saudi Arabia Raja Ali Ejaz said the impression that the kingdom had exerted pressure on his country was totally wrong and was created by certain segments to serve their vested interests.
He told Arab News that the bilateral relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia were strong and time-tested.
“We have around three million expat Pakistanis in the kingdom,” he added.
“Pakistan’s prime minister has visited Saudi Arabia four times in less than a year and the Saudi crown prince also paid a visit to Pakistan earlier this year in February, which shows the strength of our cordial relations.”