Pakistan’s premier offers 'complete solidarity' to Saudi Crown Prince after Yemen port strike

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s Prime Minister spoke by telephone with the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Wednesday to express his “complete solidarity” with the Kingdom following this week's Saudi bombing of Yemen's port city of Mukalla, the prime minister’s office said.

According to the statement, Shehbaz Sharif also stressed the need to maintain regional peace and stability through dialogue and diplomacy. Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthening long-standing fraternal ties, which the statement said had “attained new heights in recent months.”

The statement quoted Crown Prince Mohammed as thanking Sharif for the call and reiterating Saudi Arabia’s desire to expand cooperation with Pakistan in areas of mutual interest. It said the crown prince also expressed his intention to pay an official visit to Pakistan next year.

Saudi Arabia bombed Yemen’s southern port of Mukalla on Tuesday following the arrival of a weapons shipment from the United Arab Emirates believed to be intended for separatist forces. The strike followed heightened tensions linked to advances by the Emirates-backed Southern Transitional Council in the war-torn country.

The confrontation threatened to open a new front in Yemen’s decade-long war, with forces aligned against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels potentially clashing with each other in the Arab world’s poorest nation.

Pakistan, which also maintains close ties with the UAE, has faced one of its toughest diplomatic challenges since tensions between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi escalated this week.

Sharif spoke the Saudi Prince Salman a day after he met UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Rahim Yar Khan, a city in the eastern Punjab province, where the UAE ruler was staying after a weekend official visit to Islamabad. Authorities have said the meeting was aimed at defusing the tensions.

Islamabad and Riyadh signed a mutual defense agreement in September that defines an attack on either country as an attack on both. Saudi Arabia has long maintained close economic, religious, and security ties with Pakistan, while the UAE has also helped Islamabad with loans in recent years. In 2024, Pakistan said the UAE had committed to investing up to $10 billion in Pakistan.

Earlier on Wednesday, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement also expressed concern over renewed violence in Yemen, warning that unilateral actions by any Yemeni party could further escalate the conflict and destabilize the region.

In a statement, the ministry reaffirmed Pakistan’s support for the Kingdom’s security, Yemen’s unity and territorial integrity, and welcomed regional efforts aimed at de-escalating the situation and restoring peace and stability in the country.

Saudi Arabia is a leading supplier of oil to Pakistan, and it has given billions of dollars in loans to it in recent years to help the Islamic nation avoid a default of foreign debts and overcome economic crisis.