ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has clarified that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will not have bilateral meetings in Saudi Arabia on the sidelines of the US-Arab-Islamic Summit to be held in Riyadh on Sunday.
“In response to media reports about the possibility of the Prime Minister’s bilateral meetings at the Riyadh US-Arab-Islamic Summit, the Spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the format and the very full agenda of the half day Summit does not permit sideline bilateral meetings,” said a short press release issued by the Foreign Office on Saturday.
Meanwhile, today the prime minister is set to embark on a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia to participate in the first trilateral US-Arab-Islamic Summit.
The Foreign Office said that the Summit is expected to have the participation of more than 35 leaders of the Islamic world as well as Secretary Generals of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Arab League and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
The Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz had invited Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to attend the Summit in Riyadh wherein Donald J. Trump will also arrive on his first ever foreign tour since assuming the office of the US president.
The US-Arab-Islamic Summit will provide an opportunity for the participating countries to discuss how to overcome the menace of terrorism and extremism across the world.
The Summit is expected to delink ‘terrorism’ from any particular religion, culture, civilization or region.
The prime minister will also join the world leaders to attend the inauguration ceremony of the World Centre against Extremism, an important counter-radicalization initiative by Saudi Arabia.
