Islamabad - Former president of Pakistan General (Retd) Pervez Musharraf strongly believes that Pakistan as major country of the Muslim world can play and should play a role of an effective mediator between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Expressing his views as an analyst and former president in an interview with one of the local TV channels, he said that bringing Iran and Saudi Arabia closer to each other is in the interest of Pakistan.
He added that tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia have also created some problems for Pakistan because it is the second most populous country of the Shia community after Iran.
The expert said tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia are a sensitive matter in Pakistan’s relations with both countries.
He went on to say that Pakistan being a nuclear and missile power holds very important position in the Muslim world.
“We have to play a role to bring solidarity among the Muslim world,” viewed Musharraf.
Last year Pakistan had launched a mediation effort between Iran and Saudi Arabia and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the then Army Chief General Raheel Sharif traveled to Riyadh and Tehran together in an attempt to bring the two countries close to each other. Iran welcomed the initiative by Pakistan but the Saudi side did not take the necessary steps.
© IRNA 2017
