Saudi foreign minister to arrive in Islamabad on Tuesday

ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud is expected to arrive in Islamabad on Tuesday (July 27), an official said.

Al-Saud is “expected to arrive on a day-long visit during the next week, during which bilateral relations and cooperation in various fields would be reviewed,” Tahir Ashrafi, adviser to the prime minister on the Middle East, was quoted by Arab News as saying.

An official of the Saudi embassy in Islamabad said the diplomat is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday.

The visit is a continuation of “high-level engagements between the two countries which started with the visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman [in February 2019], followed by Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to the Kingdom [first in May that year followed by a short trip in May this year],” the official told Arab News.

During his trip, Prince bin Salman oversaw the signing of unprecedented investment deals worth $20 billion and ordered the release of more than 2,000 Pakistan-national workers from Saudi prisons.

The agreements included a deal for a $10 billion oil refinery in Gwadar, where China has built and activated a major seaport.

During Al-Saud’s visit, Ashrafi said, progress on the agreements will be reviewed and the two sides “will also focus on future cooperation”.

Saudi Arabia gave Pakistan a $3 billion loan and a $3.2 billion oil credit facility in late 2018.

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