RECORDER REPORT

ISLAMABAD: Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan Monday said that Pakistanis are ashamed at the way Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif was treated in Saudi Arabia during his recent visit to the kingdom.

“I have been receiving a lot of messages from Pakistanis from across the world… they are embarrassed at how Pakistan’s Prime Minister was treated during Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia,” he told a press conference.

The Prime Minister attended the first-ever Arab-Islamic-American Summit in Riyadh on Sunday, where he interacted with Saudi King Salman Bin Abdulaziz, US President Donald Trump and other leaders from Arab and Islamic countries.

He accused the Prime Minister of failing to take a stand for Pakistan and other Muslim communities, including Iran, Kashmir and Palestine, during his interactions in Riyadh.

Khan pointed out that in his speech, US President Trump had failed to mention the sacrifices rendered by Pakistan in the war against terror, and Nawaz Sharif had failed to correct him.

“The most important thing is that he [Trump] did not even mention Pakistan ... the country that fought US war and lost 70,000 people,” Khan pointed out.

“The country became a frontline state and sacrificed lives in the war but ... instead [Trump] praised [India],” Khan deplored.

During his speech, Trump had identified India as one of the countries that are victims of terrorism.

Khan also criticised the US President for not speaking about the atrocities committed by India against the people of Indian-held Kashmir.

“He [Trump] praised India for making sacrifices and did not speak about the atrocities being committed against the Kashmiris ... he did not speak about Palestinians,” he added.

The chairman PTI said when Trump lashed out against Iran and called for the country to be isolated, Prime Minister Sharif should have taken a stance and said that such a move would be against the interests of the Muslim world.

During his speech, Trump had accused Iran of fuelling “the fires of sectarian conflict and terror” and called for its international isolation.

“He [the Prime Minister] should have spoken about the parliamentary resolution which was unanimously accepted by all parties and which said that Pakistan would work to bring the Muslim community together,” Khan said. He added that since Nawaz was representing Pakistan at the summit, it was his duty to emphasise that Pakistan does not want Iran to be isolated.

“We had an opportunity, but he kept silent,” the chairman PTI said. “We do not want the Muslim world to be divided,” he added. Khan added that considering the destruction Pakistan has suffered due to its involvement in “the wars of others,” it should have been highlighted by the Prime Minister that the country “will not be partisan to these matters.”