RIYADH: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani arrived in Jeddah on Sunday afternoon on a two-day official visit to Saudi Arabia.
The prime minister was received at the airport by Prince Miqren bin Abdulaziz, chief of Saudi General Intelligence, Saudi Ambassador in Islamabad Abdul Aziz Ibrahim Al Ghadeer, Pakistan’s Ambassador Naeem Khan and other officials.
Mr Gilani is scheduled to meet King Abdullah on Monday before flying back home the same day.
His entourage comprises Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Senior Minister for Industries Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Barrister Masood Kausar and Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir.
The prime minister’s visit follows President Asif Ali Zardari’s trip to Saudi Arabia on July 21.
Within hours of his arrival in Jeddah, the prime minister and his entourage left for Makkah to perform Umrah.
The visit is being described here as basically to perform Umrah. Sources, however, said that bilateral relations and ways of enhancing them in various fields would remain the focus of deliberations.
Regional and international issues of common interest will also be discussed during the meetings, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The Afghan issue will be up for discussion during the premier’s meeting with the king, the Saudi daily Arab News said.
The sources said that from Pakistan side emphasis would be made on enhancing economic cooperation between the two countries.
There are hints that Pakistan may again make a request to the Saudi leadership to extend the facility of crude on deferred payment to help it overcome the current balance of payments problem.
This facility was extended to Pakistan in the immediate aftermath of the country’s nuclear tests in 1998. It continued for a considerable period of time thereafter.
However, despite repeated requests by the Pakistani leadership in recent years Saudi Arabia has been reluctant to extend the facility.
Analysts here feel that prospects of the facility being extended to Pakistan remain dim and remote at the moment.
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