PM to embark on three-day visit to Saudi Arabia tomorrow

Premier is visiting on the invitation of newly crowned ruler of Saudi Arabia King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will be visiting Saudi Arabia on a three-day visit on March 4 on the invitation of newly crowned ruler King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

The Saudi monarch sent a special invitation to the premier to visit Saudi Arabia in the first week of March.

Read: Nawaz to visit Saudi Arabia early next month

This would be the first visit by the premier since King Salman took over the reins of the country.

The prime minister will be accompanied by a high-level delegation, including Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi.

During the visit, Prime Minister Nawaz will hold talks with the King, perform Umrah and visit Madinah.

The visit will provide an opportunity for the leadership of the two countries to discuss issues of mutual interest and concern in the global and regional context and further strengthen close bilateral relations.

The last time the two leaders met was on January 16 this year, when the King was serving as the Deputy Premier and Minister of Defence. Nawaz met him when he visited Saudi Arabia to meet and inquire about the health of the then King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz.

Following the death of King Abdullah on January 23, Salman bin Abdulaziz was crowned as the country’s new ruler and the last to be born before the discovery of oil in the world’s top crude exporter.