ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Pakistan Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki made farewell calls on former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Wednesday, as he concludes a nearly nine-year diplomatic tenure in the country.
Al-Malki’s association with the country predates the ambassadorship. A rear admiral in the Royal Saudi Navy, he was appointed the Kingdom’s military attaché in Islamabad in 2014 and retired from the navy to take up the diplomatic post in 2017.
The length of his tenure made him one of the longest-serving foreign envoys in Islamabad and spanned a period of deepening political, economic and security ties between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
“Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz Sharif appreciated Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki’s diplomatic services for Pakistan and Saudi Arabia,” said a statement issued after the meetings at the chief minister’s office in Lahore.
“Saudi Ambassador Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki termed his stay in Pakistan memorable,” it added. “He also thanked them for the sincere hospitality.”
Al-Malki will be succeeded by Dr. Rajeh bin Tami Al-Baqami, who was among eight newly appointed Saudi envoys sworn in before Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh in July, according to the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
A retired major general, Al-Baqami later joined the Saudi Foreign Ministry with the rank of ambassador. He holds a doctorate in human resource management from Brunel University London.
Al-Malki leaves soon after Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye signed the Makkah Joint Defense Agreement, which commits the three countries to treat an attack on one as an attack on all three.
Speaking at the Saudi embassy in Islamabad on Monday, the ambassador said the three countries would put the agreement “on the ground” in the coming days and expected to see considerable cooperation between them. He described Pakistan as having become an important country regionally and globally, and said he hoped to see it among the world’s 20 largest economies within three to four years.
Al-Malki’s tenure coincided with repeated Saudi deposits in Pakistan’s central bank to support foreign exchange reserves during balance-of-payments pressures, continued oil supplies on deferred payment and growing Saudi investment commitments.
The relationship took on a more formal security dimension last September when Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement, under which aggression against either country is treated as an attack on both.
The Kingdom has pledged billions of dollars in investment in Pakistan under the Crown Prince’s Vision 2030 strategy, and the two countries have coordinated closely on regional security in recent months, including on the conflict involving Iran.
