ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: A high level delegation led by the Punjab Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif left for Saudi Arabia on Wednesday on an official visit which is being viewed as significant in the wake of current Middle East situation.
In a statement, the Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said that the delegation which also included the prime minister’s advisor on national security and foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz and the foreign secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry will hold meetings with Saudi leadership in Riyadh during the visit.
“The delegation is scheduled to meet Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia this afternoon,” the spokesperson said.
On March 26, a Saudi-led regional coalition launched airstrikes against Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen after the Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi was forced to flee the country and asked for an international intervention to reinstate his rule.
The Kingdom also contacted Pakistan to provide assistance to overcome the on-going crisis in Yemen.
Later, a Pakistani delegation led by the defence minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif and comprising Sartaj Aziz and senior military officials held a meeting with the Saudi defence minister Prince Muhammad bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz in Riyadh and discussed Pakistan’s participation in coalition of the operation “Determination Storm”.
On April 10, a joint session of the Parliament in Islamabad unanimously passed a resolution, urging the federal government to maintain neutrality in the Yemen conflict. However, lawmakers expressed unequivocal support to Saudi Arabia in case of any threat to its territorial integrity or Haramain Sharifain.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on last Monday while clarifying Pakistan’s position on different dimensions of Yemen crisis upheld the resolution adopted by the Parliament, and called for resolving the Yemen crisis through dialogue.
