Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif on Wednesday told the Senate that over a billion rupees were spent on former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's international trips during his third term in office.
In a written report presented to the upper house on Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf's request, the foreign minister stated that Sharif's 64 international tours during his third term as the head of the state set back the exchequer by Rs1.013 billion.
Sharif, whose five-year tenure was cut short due to his disqualification by the Supreme Court in the Panama Papers case, went on 10 foreign trips in 2013, 11 in 2014, 23 in 2015, nine in 2016 and just as many in 2017.
According to Asif's report, Saudi Arabia was Sharif's most frequently visited country: the former premier visited the kingdom seven times in total.
Read: Nawaz Sharif in S. Arabia to hold talks on ‘matters of national interest’
Meanwhile, Sharif toured the United States a total of six times, although four of those visits were to attend the United Nations General Assembly.
Sharif's visit count for neighbouring China — with whom his administration is collaborating on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor — stands at four.
