Exclusive: Saudi Crown Prince likely to visit Pakistan in second week of May

Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed Bin Salman Al Saud is likely to visit Pakistan in the second week of May, informed sources told WION.

This will be the first visit by the Saudi Crown Prince to the country in five years. The last time he was in Pakistan was in February 2019. He was due to visit Pakistan in 2022 as part of his visit to the region but at the 11th hour, the visit was called off.

The visit will see the third in-person meeting between Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in a period spanning five weeks.

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It is pertinent to mention that the visit will be seen in light of the recent Saudi-Pak engagements which have seen an uptick since the new government in Pakistan took charge.

Sources said that the final dates of the visit of the Saudi Crown Prince are being worked out and that a definite travel date is likely to be communicated from the Saudi side to Pakistan in the coming week.

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Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have longstanding fraternal relations rooted in religious and cultural affinity and the two have been committed to advancing the fraternal ties and mutually rewarding economic and investment relations.

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia engagements in recent weeks have been at their peak and started with the visit of Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to the kingdom in March, followed by a high-level delegation from Saudi Arab being sent to Pakistan headed by the Saudi Foreign Minister in mid of April which was then followed by another visit by Pakistani Prime Minister to Saudi Arabia for the World Economic Forum.

Saudi Arabia also sent its high-level investment delegation to Pakistan to explore avenues of investment in the country. A Pakistani ministerial delegation comprising of Minister for Petroleum and Energy will also be heading to Saudi Arabia later this week.

The visit of the Saudi Crown Prince would focus on investments in Pakistan with Islamabad trying to materialise the understanding from the meeting in Makkah of attracting a Saudi investment in the country worth $5 billion.

Though both sides would emphasise that the visit is bilateral, there is no denying the fact that it comes amid tensions in West Asia, with Iran President Ebrahim Raisi being in Pakistan recently.

Sources said that Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has decided to stay in the country and overlook the arrangements for the big visit himself and not travel abroad until the visit is over. Confirmation of sorts of this claim was corroborated when Pakistan’s prime minister dropped his plan of travelling to Gambia for the OIC Summit at the 11th hour despite earlier deciding in favour of it as it was confirmed by the Pakistani foreign office in its weekly briefing. Later, the Foreign Office said that the change in the prime minister's plan was due to "domestic considerations".