Nawaz Sharif gets the royal ignore at Saudi summit attended by Trump: Pakistan media
Opposition leaders like Imran Khan and a section of the Pakistani media have lamented how its prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, was treated at the Arab Islamic American summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia over the weekend. At the summit, that was attended by US President Donald Trump, Sharif was not invited to address even as he was reported to have spent the entire flight to Riyadh rehearsing his speech. Former Pakistani army chief Raheel Sharif, who heads the Islamic military coalition, was not asked to speak either.
The humiliation for Pakistan did not stop there. Even as Trump addressed at length terrorism’s devastating effects on countries like India, Russia and Australia, he did not mention Pakistan. He did not identify the country as a ‘victim’ of terrorism. In fact, Trump asked all Muslim countries to ensure that terrorists do not use their soil to launch attacks on other countries.
A leading Pakistani daily, The Nation, said in its front-page report that Pakistan was ‘fuming’ at Trump’s ‘indifference.’ “This has of course hurt us. We expected acknowledgement of our role and our commitment to defeat terrorism,” the newspaper quoted a senior Pakistani foreign ministry official.
In another report in the same newspaper, Salim Bokhari wrote, “The popular sentiment among the majority of Pakistani media delegation was that of a total humiliation of the sole Muslim nuclear power because not only there was no mention of Islamabad’s role against global terrorism but also the prime minister of the ‘frontline state’ was denied the opportunity to put forth its point of view.” He said Pakistan has lost over 70,000 civilians in terrorist attacks and yet it went unnoticed in Trump’s address.
Daily Pakistan, another newspaper, also bemoaned how the country was neglected at the summit where 55 Muslim-majority nations also participated. “Leaders, who are not even facing menace of terrorism, were given chances to present their views, but Pakistan was neglected,” the daily reported.
Imran Khan, who heads the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, said the way Sharif was treated was ‘unfortunate for all.’ “Pakistan’s foreign policy is a disaster,” he said.
He lashed out at Sharif for remaining silent when Trump spoke of isolating Iran. Khan said Iran should have been a part of the Islamic military alliance and that differences between Muslim countries must be bridged, not widened. “Nawaz Sharif lost a big opportunity and the Pakistani people are extremely disappointed. If he didn’t take a stand on what the Pakistani nation wants, then why he even bothered going there,” he was quoted saying by The News International.
