Pakistan

Palestinian president arrives in Islamabad today

Mahmoud Abbas will hold meetings with PM Nawaz, President Mamnoon

Our Correspondent January 30, 2017

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas makes closing remarks at the end of the 5th Extraordinary Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Summit on Palestinian issues in Jakarta, Indonesia on March 7, 2016. PHOTO: REUTERS

ISLAMABAD: President of the State of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas is arriving here today (Monday) on a two-day official visit to hold wide-ranging talks with Pakistan’s top leadership, the Foreign Office announced on Sunday.

The statement said this would be President Abbas’s third visit to Pakistan as he previously traveled to Islamabad in 2005 and 2013. On his current tour, he would be accompanied by a 17-member delegation including 5 ministers, the statement added.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to visit Pakistan on Monday

During the visit, the Palestinian president will have a one-on-one meeting with the prime minister of Pakistan followed by delegation-level talks. The president of Palestine and the prime minister of Pakistan will then jointly inaugurate the newly constructed Palestine Embassy Complex in the Diplomatic Enclave, Islamabad. The government of Pakistan had gifted a plot of land in 1992 for the construction of the Palestinian Embassy Complex. Subsequently, in 2013 Pakistan also contributed towards its construction.

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President Mahmoud Abbas and his delegation will then meet his Pakistani counterpart, followed by a state banquet in his honour. Bilateral political matters as well as other issues of common interest will be discussed between the two heads of state.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2017.