Pakistan and Saudi Arabia established relations in 1947, when Pakistan and India split. Relations have been historically close and friendly, frequently described by analysts as constituting a special relationship. Pakistan has sometimes been dubbed as “Saudi Arabia’s closest Muslim and non-Arab ally.Pakistan has, in line with its pan-Islamic ideology, assumed the role of a guardian of Saudi Arabia against any external or internal threat.
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have sought to develop extensive commercial, cultural, religious, political, and strategic relations since the establishment of Pakistan in 1947. Pakistan affirms its relationship with Saudi Arabia as their most “important and bilateral partnership” in the current foreign policy of Pakistan, working and seeking to develop closer bilateral ties with Saudi Arabia, the largest country on the Arabian peninsula and host to the two holiest cities of Islam, Mecca and Medina and the destination of Muslim pilgrims from across the world.
According to a Pew Research Center survey, Pakistanis hold the most favorable perception of Saudi Arabians in the world, with 9 of 10 respondents viewing Saudi Arabia favorably.The kingdom has often tried to further enhance its relations with Pakistan by giving it gifts and loans. Often these are gifts with symbolic religious value. For example, in 2014 Saudi Arabia gave Pakistan 200 tonnes of dates as a gesture of friendship.
On 2 April 2014, Pakistan Today reported that Pakistan would sell JF-17 Thunder jets to Saudi Arabia after the kingdom gave a grant of $1.5 billion to Pakistan in early 2014.
