Islamabad: Saudi Arabia’s newly appointed Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud will arrive in Islamabad on Thursday on his maiden visit to the country, the Pakistan Foreign Office (FO) announced.
Al-Saud is slated to hold a meeting with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and call on Prime Minister Imran Khan, reports Dawn news.
“This would be his maiden visit to Pakistan, during which the exchange of views would cover bilateral matters and regional issues of mutual interest,” an FO statement issued on Wednesday said.
According to the FO, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy a “deep-rooted and longstanding fraternal relationship” and the two countries are committed to further strengthening bilateral cooperation in all fields.
Al-Saud was appointed as the kingdom’s foreign minister in October.
A one-time adviser to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and former ambassador to Germany, al-Saud replaced Ibrahim al-Assaf who was in the role for less than a year.
The Saudi Minister’s visit comes days after Pakistan decided to stay away from the Kuala Lumpur summit of some 20 Muslim countries reportedly due to pressure exerted by Riyadh, which had extended a helping hand to the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government during its early days to stave off an economic crisis.