Pakistan is a friendly countryPakistan is a friendly country

“Pakistan is a friendly country. Anytime one sees a dangerous trend in a friendly country, one is not only sorry but worried,” Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al Faisal told Indian journalists after a meeting with visiting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

It was the duty of all political leaders in Pakistan to unite to ensure that extremists did not achieve their objectives, he said.

Answering a query, he said: “There is no relation between Saudi Arabia and Taliban. Our relationship was abrogated when Taliban gave sanctuary to Al Qaeda. Since then and till today we have no relations with Taliban. That will give you an indication of how seriously we look at the issue.”

Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Talmiz Ahmed told reporters that Prime Minister Singh during his meetings with the Saudi leadership was expected to stress the need for Pakistan to dismantle the ‘terror infrastructure’ on its soil. He said a Saudi initiative to rehabilitate extremists by enlightening them about the non-violent principles of Islam would also be discussed.

He said there was deep concern both in India and Saudi Arabia about the sense of insecurity and instability across West Asia and parts of South Asia, from Palestine to Pakistan.