Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif meets Mohammed bin Salman on sidelines of COP27 meeting in Sharm El-Sheikh

By Islamuddin Sajid 

ISLAMABAD (AA) - 

Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman is expected to visit Pakistan later this month, an official said on Tuesday.

"He is expected to visit on Nov. 21," a senior official told Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity as the date of the visit is yet to be announced officially.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with the crown prince and premier on Tuesday on the sidelines of the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference, also known as COP27, in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. There, he expressed his determination to further strengthen the multilateral partnership between the two countries, said a statement issued by Sharif's office.

Sharif is in Egypt along with his delegation to attend the COP27 summit.

"Looking forward to the upcoming visit of the (Saudi) Crown Prince to Pakistan," Sharif said, adding that he was confident that this visit would promote bilateral cooperation in all areas of mutual interest.

The Pakistani premier emphasized the importance of increasing trade, investment, development and people-to-people ties between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

Pakistan's Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said last week that Islamabad was in negotiations with Riyadh for $4.2 billion of financial support as the South Asian country faces financial and political crises.

"Saudi Arabia had also agreed to revive the $10-12bn petrochemical refining project at Gwadar," the daily Dawn quoted Dar as saying. Gwadar is a port city on southwestern Pakistan's Arabian Sea coast.

During his Tuesday meeting with bin Salman, Sharif also praised Saudi Arabia's hospitality and cooperation towards the 2 million Pakistanis working in the kingdom, according to the statement.

Bin Salman's visit is slated to take place as the South Asian country grapples with political crisis after former Prime Minister Imran Khan announced to resume the anti-government long march to the capital on Thursday.

Khan had earlier called off the march following a failed attempt on his life in the Wazirabad district of the northeastern province of Punjab.

He was wounded in the leg when shots were fired at him and other officials standing on a modified container truck.