PM Shehbaz likely to visit Saudi Arabia, China

Newly elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is expected to travel to Saudi Arabia and China in his first foreign trip after taking charge, a Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) leader told The Express Tribune on Tuesday.

Traditionally, a prime minister’s first foreign visit has often been to Saudi Arabia and China due to the country’s strategic relationship with both.

According to sources, PM Shehbaz Sharif during his visit to Saudi Arabia will perform Umrah and meet the Saudi leadership.

The Sharif family maintains a close personal relationship with the Saudi royal family as the latter played a central role in ensuring the safe exit of Nawaz Sharif after the October 1999 coup.

Saudi Arabia in the past has extended financial bailout packages to successive Pakistani governments, in fact, Riyadh gave former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government a $6 billion bailout package.

It is unclear if the new premier will also seek financial assistance, given that Saudi Arabia provided $3 billion dollars to Pakistan not long ago.

After the Saudi visit, the premier is also expected to travel to China.

PM Shehbaz is known to enjoy a good reputation amongst the Chinese leadership because of his administrative qualities. During the previous PML-N tenure, Shehbaz played a central role in accelerating China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects.

The Chinese state media welcomed the election of Shehbaz and stated that given the Sharif family's previous engagements with China, the new prime minister would prove better for the Pakistan-China relationship than Imran Khan.

Read PM Shehbaz to visit Karachi tomorrow

Meanwhile, the premier earlier thanked his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for congratulating him.

"Thank you Premier Narendra Modi for felicitations. Pakistan desires peaceful & cooperative ties with India. Peaceful settlement of outstanding disputes including Jammu & Kashmir is indispensable. Pakistan's sacrifices in fighting terrorism are well-known. Let's secure peace and focus on socio-economic development of our people," Shehbaz responded.

The Indian prime minister had earlier in a tweet said, "Congratulations to H. E. Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on his election as the Prime Minister of Pakistan. India desires peace and stability in a region free of terror, so that we can focus on our development challenges and ensure the well-being and prosperity of our people."

The relationship between Pakistan and India has proved tense and efforts to seek rapprochement in February last year failed to make headway.

The Sharif brothers are seen favourably in India, given their previous attempts to normalise ties with New Delhi.

But given Shehbaz’s coalition government armed with a heavy domestic agenda, there are no prospects of any major change in the relationship between the two South Asian neighbours.