Canada–Saudi Arabia relations
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Canadian–Saudi relations are the relations between Canada and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The two share robust economic ties, with Saudi Arabia representing Canada's second largest trading partner in the Middle East, a relation that was bolstered in February 2014 with the purchase of C$15 billion worth of Canadian arms by Saudi Arabia. Until August 2018, there were over 16,000 Saudi students on government scholarships in Canada.
After the Government of Canada called for the immediate release of blogger Raif Badawi and his sister Samar over Twitter on 5 August 2018 over human rights concerns, Saudi Arabia accused Canada of interfering in its internal affairs and declared Canada's ambassador to Saudi Arabia persona non grata and recalled its own ambassador from Ottawa. The country also suspended all new trade (though maintaining the sale of oil to Canada) and suspended Saudia flights to and from Toronto, signifying an official diplomatic dispute between the two nations.
See also
- List of ambassadors of Canada to Saudi Arabia
- Foreign relations of Canada
- Foreign relations of Saudi Arabia
- Human rights in Saudi Arabia
- Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Ottawa
- Saudi Canadians