Saudi Arabia, Canada set to restore diplomatic ties

Riyadh [Saudi Arabia], May 25 (ANI): Saudi Arabia and Canada are set to restore their diplomatic ties, as per Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in an official release on Wednesday said: “In the light of what has been discussed between His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, and The Right Honorable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada on the sidelines of the summit of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum in Bangkok on November 18, 2022, and the desire of both sides to restore diplomatic relations between the two countries on the basis of mutual respect, and common interests; it has been decided to restore the level of diplomatic relations with Canada to its previous state.”

According to Al Arabiya, Canada said the decision follows discussions held between Trudeau and the Saudi Crown Prince on sidelines of the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum in Bangkok in November last year.

A government source familiar with the agreement who was not authorized to speak on the record, said: “Punitive trade measures will be lifted.”

“Empty chairs at the end of the day don’t push our interests forward, and they don’t push things like human rights forward,” the source added.

“We’ve seen in recent years that Saudi is an important global player,” said the government source. “Saudi Arabia helped evacuate Canadians (in Sudan), and they’re also playing an important role in finding a solution to the conflict there,” the source said, as per Al Arabiya.

Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said: “We need to have conversations with people we don’t always agree with on everything in order to find global solutions to global problems.”