ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has sent a congratulatory message to the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, who the king, Salman bin Abdulaziz, named as the kingdom’s prime minister through a royal decree on Tuesday.
“I extend my heartiest felicitations to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on his appointment as PM. We are confident that under his dynamic and visionary leadership, the kingdom is destined to prosper [and] our bilateral relations will further deepen,” he tweeted on Wednesday.
“I extend my heartiest felicitations to HRH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on his appointment as PM of KSA. We are confident that under his dynamic and visionary leadership, the Kingdom is destined to prosper & our bilateral relations will further deepen”
Prime Minister https://t.co/weE5hzi5Cy
— Prime Minister’s Office (@PakPMO) September 28, 2022
The crown prince, known as MbS, is promoted from defence minister and has been the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter and a major U.S. ally in the Middle East.
His new role as prime minister is in line with the king’s previous delegation of duties to him, including representing the kingdom on foreign visits and chairing summits hosted by the kingdom, a Saudi official told Reuters.
“HRH the crown prince, based on the king’s orders, already supervises the main executive bodies of the state on a daily basis, and his new role as prime minister is within that context,” said the official, who declined to be identified.
Historically, such delegation of duties has taken place in the kingdom several times, the official said.
The crown prince said the kingdom has increased its self-sufficiency in military industries to 15 percent from 2 percent and plans to reach 50 percent under his brother, the newly appointed defence minister Prince Khalid, state news agency SPA reported.
— With Reuters
