As the government seeks to revive the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari last weekend met his Saudi counterpart and Chinese foreign policy chief on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
Though no details were provided except that Bilawal discussed issues of mutual interests with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal Bin Farhan Al Saud and Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs Wang Yi, diplomatic sources told The Express Tribune on Monday that both meetings went beyond expectations of Pakistan.
“What I gathered from the foreign minister’s engagements with his Saudi and Chinese counterparts was that both countries were keen to help Pakistan,” said a source privy to the details. The source hoped that the meetings in Munich would translate into something tangible for Pakistan. “I cannot go into the nitty-gritty but I can tell you that the meetings went really well. Both the Saudi and Chinese foreign ministers were very supportive,” the source claimed.
Pakistan has to secure assurances from Saudi Arabia and China for more loans in order to revive the IMF programme. The government has already taken a series of measures to fulfil the tough IMF conditions. Those include allowing the market determined exchange rate, slapping of new taxes and jacking up electricity and gas tariffs.
