Pakistan PM Shehbaz leaves for Saudi Arabia on day-long trip

Islamabad, Sep 17 (PT) Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday left for Saudi Arabia on a day-long trip during which he will meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and discuss bilateral ties, besides regional and global developments.

The Prime Minister is undertaking the trip at the invitation of Crown Prince Mohammed, the Foreign Office said in a statement.

He is accompanied by Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, Environment Minister Musadik Malik and Special Assistant Tariq Fatemi.

During the visit, the Prime Minister will hold a bilateral meeting with the Crown Prince to review the entire spectrum of Pakistan–Saudi Arabia relations, the statement said.

“The two leaders are also expected to exchange views on regional and global developments of mutual interest. The visit is expected to result in the formalisation of cooperation in diverse fields, reflecting the shared commitment of both sides to further enhance and deepen their longstanding fraternal ties,” it said.

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy a historic relationship, rooted in shared faith, values and mutual trust, and the visit will provide an important opportunity to the two leaders to consolidate this unique partnership, while exploring new avenues of collaboration, for the benefit of the peoples of the two countries, it added.

This is his third visit to the Gulf region within a week. He earlier visited Qatar twice - on Thursday and Monday - to express solidarity with Doha following Israel's attack on the Hamas leadership in the Gulf country and to attend an emergency meeting of Arab-Islamic nations on the issue. PTI SH  ZH ZH