ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday sided openly with Riyadh and expressed support for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on its decision and policy where together with other oil-producing members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), it decided to cut oil production.

While not naming any country, the Foreign Ministry said, “In the wake of statements made against the Kingdom in the context of OPEC+ decision, Pakistan expresses solidarity with the leadership of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”

In the background is a letter reportedly written by President Joe Biden to Saudi Prince Muhammad bin Salman, suggesting Saudi Arabia to wait for a month before it cut oil production. “Such a delay in the OPEC+ supply reduction could have staved off price rises at American pumps until after the US mid-term elections,” said one media report.

The Biden administration meanwhile said last week that Saudi Arabia “coerced” smaller oil-producing members of OPEC to agree to production cuts that the Saudis knew would “increase Russian revenues and blunt the effectiveness of sanctions” designed to combat Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.

On Monday, Biden threatened “consequence” for the squeeze on oil production but did not spell out what these “consequences” could be. It’s been almost two weeks since Riyadh and its counterparts in the OPEC Plus cartel moved to raise the global oil prices by announcing its largest supply cut in years.

Senator Bob Menendez, chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, said he would vote to block future arms sales while Democratic lawmakers have proposed a series of punitive measures against the kingdom.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) announced legislation last week that would immediately halt all arms sales to Saudi Arabia for one year. But Pakistan came out in full support of Riyadh, saying, “We appreciate the concerns of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for avoiding market volatility and ensuring global economic stability.