Prior to the Crown Prince’s expected trip to Pakistan, the PM will visit Saudi Arabia.
If Imran decides to start his eagerly awaited long march, Mohammad bin Salman’s visit might be postponed or canceled.
As part of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s aim to diversify the Kingdom’s role in the global economy beyond oil, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will go to Saudi Arabia for two days beginning on Monday.
The two-day Future Investment Initiative meeting is being held in Riyadh, and it is being attended by hundreds of participants from all around the world, including corporate executives, government officials, and even CEOs of American corporations. On Tuesday, the conference will officially begin.
Prime Minister Shehbaz is traveling to Saudi Arabia at the crown prince’s invitation, according to official sources. He is expected to meet with the Saudi leadership during the two-day meeting.
The Davos in the desert is taking place while Saudi Arabia and the US are at odds over Riyadh’s decision to reduce oil exports, despite requests to the contrary from President Biden. The organizers of the investment meeting claim that the US officials were not invited. However, 400 CEOs from various American businesses will be there. Strong Chinese representatives will be present in Riyadh to underscore Saudi Arabia’s efforts to broaden its horizons and explore outside of the West.
Pakistan sees the meeting as a chance to raise awareness of the global floods caused by climate change.
Shehbaz is in Saudi Arabia because the Saudi crown prince intends to go to Pakistan the following month. Next month, Pakistan is expecting Prime Minister Mohammad bin Salman to visit Islamabad on an important trip that it hopes will result in yet another financial rescue from the oil-rich Arab country.
Officials are being coy and withholding information on the visit, but sources told The Express Tribune that the two nations were in contact in advance. When questioned about the visit, the foreign office remained silent.
In mid-November, the Saudi crown prince is reportedly planning to visit India on his way to Indonesia to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. According to Indian media, the visit is anticipated to take a few hours on November 14 before both leaders fly for Bali in order to attend the G-20 conference there on November 15–16.
Although MBS is eager to visit Islamabad, there are worries that the trip could be postponed or canceled if Imran Khan chooses to begin the much-awaited long march against the government.
When visiting Saudi Arabia in July, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif extended an invitation to the Saudi de facto monarch to travel to Pakistan.
