ISLAMABAD: Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud arrived here Saturday on a three-day visit to Pakistan to further cement ties between the two countries and discuss regional situation.

A red carpet was rolled out for the Saudi crown prince, also deputy prime minister and minister for defence of Saudi Arabia, as he alighted from the special aircraft at Nur Khan Airbase.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif received the Saudi prince as a 19-gun salute boomed to herald his arrival.

Federal Ministers, Ishaq Dar, Pervez Rashid, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Sardar Muhammad Yousaf, Zahid Hamid, Abdul Qadir Baloch, Ahsan Iqbal, Advisor to Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee Gen Rashad Mahmood, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Raheel Sharif, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt and Chief of Naval Staff Muhammad Asif Sandila were present on the occasion.

Ambassador of Saudi Arabia Dr Abdul Aziz Ibrahim Saleh Al-Ghadeer and Pakistan Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Naeem Khan were also present to receive the guest.

Clad in traditional dresses, a young boy and girl presented bouquets to the dignitary.

A smartly turned out contingent of the three services presented a salute to the Saudi crown prince, who inspected the guard of honour while the national anthems of the two countries were played.

The crown prince is accompanied by a high level delegation including Minister of Economy and Planning Dr Mohammed bin Sulaiman Al-Jasser, Minister of Commerce and Industry Dr Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al-Rabiah, Minister for Culture and Information Dr Abdulaziz Bin Mohieddin Khoja and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Nizar Bin Obaid Madani besides a large number of Saudi businessmen.

Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud had also visited Pakistan in 1998 as the governor of Riyadh.

During the visit, the Saudi crown prince would hold talks with the president and the prime minister on bilateral and international matters of mutual interest.

The two sides will also discuss ways to increase export of Pakistan's manpower to Saudi Arabia and facilitate members of Pakistani community in the Saudi kingdom. The Afghan issue will also be part of the talks.

He would also visit key defence installations of Pakistan and likely to sign several bilateral agreements including on defence and security.

Extraordinary security arrangements are being made for the security of the top Saudi prince during his stay in the country.

The visit by Prince Salman is the second highest visit of a Saudi diplomat after Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal’s visit to Pakistan last month.