Pakistan’s Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif met His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in Jeddah on Wednesday, opening a three-nation diplomatic tour aimed at reviving US-Iran peace talks and securing fresh economic support from Riyadh.
The meeting came as Pakistan positions itself at the center of Middle East mediation efforts. Sharif arrived in Jeddah on the first leg of a four-day trip that also includes Qatar and Turkiye, running from April 15 to 18. He will attend the Antalya Diplomacy Forum later this week and hold bilateral meetings with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar sat in on the talks. Saudi Minister of Defence Prince Khalid bin Salman and National Security Adviser Musaed Al Aiban were also present. On the Pakistani side, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar and Special Assistant Syed Tariq Fatemi joined the delegation.
Sharif was received at Jeddah airport by Prince Saud bin Mishaal bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Governor of the Makkah Region, along with Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Pakistan Nawaf bin Saeed Al Malki and Pakistan’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ahmad Farooq.
Saudi Arabia Pakistan Talks Focus on US-Iran Mediation
The bulk of the Jeddah meeting centered on the stalled US-Iran negotiations that Islamabad has been hosting since early April. Washington and Tehran held their first face-to-face talks in decades in Islamabad over the weekend, but the 21-hour session ended without an agreement to halt the war that erupted on February 28 when the United States and Israel struck Iran.
Sharif and the Crown Prince reviewed the state of those talks and stressed the need for sustained diplomatic engagement to stabilize the region. US President Donald Trump has said a second round of negotiations could resume in the Pakistani capital this week. A fragile ceasefire remains in place until next week, though the United States has ordered a naval blockade of Iranian ports.
Dar, who served as one of the mediators during the Islamabad talks, is a central figure in the diplomatic push. Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir separately arrived in Tehran on Wednesday as part of a high-level delegation carrying fresh proposals to revive the stalled process. The twin tracks, Sharif in the Gulf and Munir in Iran, show Islamabad working both sides at once.
The Jeddah session also fed into a broader quadrilateral process. Foreign ministers from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Egypt met in Islamabad last month to discuss the Middle East crisis, and senior officials held follow-up talks this week. A fresh ministerial meeting is scheduled for April 17 in Antalya on the sidelines of the forum.
Pakistan Saudi Arabia Economic Cooperation and Defence Ties
Alongside the regional file, the two leaders reviewed bilateral economic and defence cooperation. Pakistan’s finance ministry announced on Wednesday that Riyadh would provide $3 billion in fresh deposits to bolster Islamabad’s foreign reserves. The central bank said it had already received $2 billion of that tranche, giving an immediate boost to reserves under strain from the regional conflict’s impact on oil prices and shipping.
The financial support follows a visit to Islamabad earlier this month by Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Jadaan, during which Riyadh first signalled the additional deposits. The Crown Prince praised Sharif’s economic reforms and efforts to shore up Pakistan’s fiscal position.
Defence ties have also deepened in recent weeks. On April 11, Pakistan deployed roughly 13,000 troops along with 10 to 18 fighter jets and support aircraft to King Abdulaziz Air Base in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, under a strategic defence pact signed between the two countries. Saudi defence officials described the move as part of joint operational readiness and regional security coordination.
The deployment reflects a significant step up in military cooperation. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states have faced Iranian retaliatory strikes on US and Israeli-linked assets since February, and Riyadh has leaned on Pakistani troops and airpower to reinforce its eastern flank.
Regional Diplomacy Ahead of Qatar and Turkiye Visits
Sharif will travel to Doha next for talks with Qatari leadership, another key player in Gulf diplomacy. Qatar, like Saudi Arabia, was targeted in Iranian retaliatory strikes and has been active in back-channel efforts to end the conflict.
His final stop will be Turkiye, where he will participate in the Antalya Diplomacy Forum and meet Erdogan on the sidelines. Ankara has coordinated closely with Islamabad, Riyadh and Cairo throughout the crisis.
Last month, Sharif praised Saudi Arabia for its remarkable restraint during the conflict and called for immediate de-escalation. On March 9, he held a restricted meeting with the Crown Prince where he expressed Pakistan’s full solidarity with the Kingdom.
The Jeddah talks set the tone for the rest of the tour. With the ceasefire holding only until next week and US-Iran negotiations on the brink of resuming, the coming days will test whether Pakistan’s mediation track can produce a durable breakthrough.
