ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Prime Minister Imran Khan had a one-on-one meeting with the Saudi Crown Prince His Royal Highness Mohammad Bin Salman at the Prime Minister House in Islamabad on Sunday, the Dispatch News Desk (DND) news agency reported.
Both the leaders vowed for further strengthening of friendship and more economic cooperation between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
The meeting was followed by the inaugural session of the Saudi-Pakistan Supreme Coordination Council (SCC) Co-chaired by the prime minister and the Crown Prince.
The high-powered SCC was proposed by Prince Mohammad Bin Salman during the visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to Saudi Arabia in October 2018.
The objective to put in place an high level institutional mechanism to fast track decisions in key areas of bilateral cooperation, and for close monitoring of their implementation.
وزیر اعظم عمران خان اور سعودی ولی عہد شہزادہ محمّد بن سلیمان کی خوش گوار ماحول میں ملاقات 🇵🇰🇸🇦#CrownPrinceinPakistan #WelcomePrinceMBS #PakSaudiFriendship pic.twitter.com/FEJF5WvE4s
— Govt of Pakistan (@pid_gov) February 17, 2019
The Saudi-Pakistan Supreme Coordination Council includes respective Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Defense, Defense Production, Finance, Energy, Petroleum, Water Resources, Information, Culture, Interior, Commerce, Trade and Investment and Human Resources of both Countries.
The Council will cover areas under three pillars: political and security, economic, social and culture.
Under the Supreme Coordination Council, a Steering Committee and Joint Working Groups have been set up at Ministerial and Senior Officials levels, to develop frameworks of cooperation in specific projects and submit recommendations to the respective Ministers.
The functioning of the Supreme Council will be coordinated by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the two Countries.
The Supreme Council will meet annually in Riyadh and Islamabad alternately.
