Foreign minister in hot water over his remarks on Saudi

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi is in the eye of a diplomatic storm for his remarks against the Organisation of Islamic Conference for its inaction on the Kashmir issue, which were seen as an indirect attack on Saudi Arabia, which leads the group.

On Tuesday, he postponed his press conference for the second time amid reports that Saudi Arabia, a close ally of Pakistan, reacted strongly to his statements. He is understood to have called the press conference to explain his remarks in a bid to placate the kingdom. The postponement suggests Pakistan would have to do more to rectify the situation.

One observer has said his job is now on the line.

Last week, Qureshi asked OIC to “stop dilly-dallying” on convening a meeting of its Council of Foreign Ministers on Kashmir. “I am once again respectfully telling OIC that a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers is our expectation. If you cannot convene it, then I’ll be compelled to ask Prime Minister Imran Khan to call a meeting of the Islamic countries that are ready to stand with us on the issue of Kashmir and support the oppressed Kashmiris,” he had told a TV channel.

He said if OIC fails to summon the CFM meeting, Pakistan would be ready to go for a session outside OIC. Pakistan has been pushing for the foreign ministers’ meeting of the 57-member bloc of Muslim countries, the second largest intergovernmental body after the United Nations.

N.A.B. TRYING TO HARM ME: MARYAM NAWAZ

PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz on Tuesday alleged that the country’s accountability watchdog intended to physically harm her when they called her for investigation.

Addressing a press conference in Lahore, the daughter of former PM Nawaz Sharif said that clashes broke out between police and her supporters after police stoned her vehicle as she made her way to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) office.

Maryam alleged NAB had leaked the information to the media about the notice to her. “The reason to call me on this vague notice was to harm me.”